More than a dozen Republican lawmakers in the Idaho legislature are urging the state’s library commission to sever ties with the American Library Association (ALA), citing concerns about its Marxist programming and promotion of explicit material.
Idaho Republicans Urge State Libraries To Ditch American Library Association After It Promoted Porn To Kids https://t.co/Q6pIZ9x5xc
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 20, 2023
On Monday, the 13 lawmakers of The Freedom Caucus released a statement calling on the Idaho Commission for Libraries and all “local and school libraries” to terminate membership with the ALA. Their primary concern centers around the election of Emily Drabinski, a self-described “Marxist-lesbian,” as the ALA’s president.
Drabinski’s election as ALA president last year sparked controversy among Idaho GOP lawmakers. In a celebratory post on social media, she expressed her excitement about harnessing collective power to create a better world.
The Idaho Freedom Caucus, however, criticized her views and leadership style, raising questions about libraries’ role in exposing children to explicit materials and introducing left-leaning political ideologies and eroticism into publicly funded libraries.
The lawmakers pointed out specific issues with Drabinski’s leadership, claiming that she dedicated her professional career to assisting minors in accessing pornography using taxpayer resources.
They cited her proposal to incorporate “queer theory” in cataloging books within libraries, a concept she advocated in a 2013 paper. Additionally, Idaho lawmakers expressed concern over the ALA’s provision of LGBT resources and the pressure it puts on libraries to include explicit materials related to transgenderism and homophile deviance aimed at young children.
In April, the ALA recommended a list of 13 books for teens and young adults, which included explicit content. If successful in their efforts to sever ties with the ALA, Idaho would join neighboring Montana, which made the same decision recently.
The move was met with support from freedom caucus chapters in other states, with lawmakers in Wyoming, Georgia, and Mississippi calling on their local libraries to follow suit. In fact, according to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, the Campbell County Library Board in Wyoming has already won the vote to ditch the ALA.
Liberal advocates for the association fanatically argue that young kids should be exposed to explicit adult material, while opponents assert the need to protect children from harmful and abusive content.
