LGBTQ+ librarians struggle with attacks on books – and on themselves

Idaho librarian June Meissner was closing the public library in downtown Boise when a man approached her and asked for help.

As an information librarian, answering patron questions is part of Meissner’s daily work, and serving the community is one of her favorite aspects of the job.

But when the man got close enough, “he lunged and tried to hit me in the head,” said Meissner, a transgender woman. “I blocked the blow, and he started yelling profanities and implying that he was going to come back and kill me.”

Pride Month events celebrating LGBTQ+ culture and rights are in full swing around the world, but the month comes at a time when people who identify as LGBTQ+ report facing increasing difficulties at work, ranging from repeated misgendering to physical attacks.

Gender nonconforming library workers like Meissner in particular are facing increasing calls for book bans across the United States. Books about gender identity, sexual orientation and race are at the top of the list of most criticized titles, which makes the attacks all the more personal.

“When we see attacks on these books, we need to understand that these are attacks on these types of people as well,” said Emily Drabinski, president of the American Library Association and gay. “Having my identity used as a weapon against libraries and library workers, the people and institutions I care about most, has made this a difficult and painful year.”

The ALA said it documented the highest number of titles targeted by censorship in 2023 in more than 20 years of tracking – 4,240. That number beat the previous record set in 2022 by 65%, with Maia Kobabe’s coming-of-age story “Gender Queer” topping the list of most criticized library books for the third year in a row.

Lawmakers are increasingly considering lawsuits, fines and even prison sentences for distributing books some consider inappropriate, including in Meissner’s home state of Idaho, where lawmakers passed a law allowing local prosecutors to bring charges against public and school libraries if they fail to keep “harmful” materials away from children. The new law, which Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed in April, takes effect July 1.

“I think a lot of these political statements about this are making things more dangerous and worse for me,” Meissner said. “There’s so much politics involved and so much inciting the public.”

Meissner’s own attacker was arrested and convicted. She says that while the vast majority of her interactions at work are positive, she still finds it difficult to let her guard down and is constantly checking to see if a situation could become unsafe.

“For someone who works face-to-face with the public and tries to help people as best as they can, it’s really hindering,” she told The Associated Press, describing how she waits to look a customer in the eye, “and then, based on what I see when they look at me, I know if I should just be nervous and cautious.”

Florida-based conservative nonprofit Moms for Liberty, which describes itself as a parental rights organization and describes its members as “joyful warriors,” is at the forefront of a nationwide campaign to remove books that address race and gender identity.

But co-founder Tiffany Justice says the organization — which she says has over 300 chapters in 48 states and more than 130,000 active members — is not anti-LGBTQ+, although Justice herself told the AP she thinks the Q in the acronym, which stands for “queer” or “questioning,” “belongs in the trash can.” And according to the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, about 38% of book contests that “directly grew out of Moms for Liberty activity” have LGBTQ+ themes.

Justice said Moms for Liberty challenges books like “Gender Queer” — a graphic novel about a young person’s struggle with their gender identity that includes depictions of sexual contact, masturbation and a sex toy — because they consider the material to be sexually explicit, not because it addresses LGBTQ+ issues.

“The least interesting thing about a child should be their sexual orientation,” Justice said. “Why are we flooding them with sexual content?”

Despite thousands of petitions to censor books on sex and gender, the legal standards for what constitutes obscene or harmful material — and therefore not First Amendment-protected speech — are very specific and high. And the courts have historically sided with libraries, says Vera Eidelman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who studies free speech in the digital age.

“The mere fact that something describes sex or nudity, or even depicts those things, is not enough to classify it as obscenity,” she said.

Despite this, the book ban movement has in many cases succeeded in restricting access to materials depicting LGBTQ+ youth.

Starting June 1, libraries in Louisiana will have to let parents or guardians decide which books their child can borrow. M’issa Fleming, a public librarian in New Orleans who uses “they”/”them” pronouns, says the new law could make things even more dangerous for queer and trans children, who are already at higher risk of violence, substance abuse, and suicide than their straight, cisgender peers. And losing access to books with LGBTQ+ themes could lead children to turn to less reliable sources like Reddit.

“Public libraries could offer as many opportunities as possible to make it less dangerous to find out about yourself, and the law has only created another challenge,” Fleming said.

Chaz Carey, a children’s librarian in Worthington, Ohio, knows firsthand how powerful books can be. Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel “Fun Home,” in which the author explores her sexual orientation, changed Carey’s life as a teenager.

“I felt seen. It was like my whole body just exhaled,” said Carey, who is queer and uses they/them pronouns. “It’s just so important that these books stay on the shelves. They save lives.”

Carey says being a children’s librarian is a dream job, but the increasing number of book challenges and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric are taking a psychological toll. They are frequently misgendered at work, including by some patrons who do so while expressing their political views.

“The political environment is simply an additional burden on us as we navigate our lives and our place in our community,” said Carey, chair of the ALA’s Rainbow Roundtable, which aims to meet the information needs of LGBTQ+ people.

Carey helps to “take some time to be sad, but then choose queer joy and pride.”

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