In June the Jonesboro Public Library made headlines after placing a large selection of pro-LGBT material in its children’s library area.
The books included titles like The GayBCs and My Two Moms. The library also displayed a pro-LGBT flyer about the gay pride flag.
One mother noted that the picture books showed very young children identifying with different sexual-orientations. The publishers’ age range for these books reportedly was as young as four years old.
In August the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library Board met to discuss the display.
Proposals reportedly were offered to move pro-LGBT material to a different part of the library — away from the children’s area — and to give the library board oversight when it comes to special displays. However, those good proposals failed to pass.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time children have been targeted with pro-LGBT material.
For example, in June popular children’s cartoon “Blue’s Clues” released a video of an animated gay pride parade on YouTube.
And around the country different libraries have hosted “Drag Queen Story Times” geared toward children. These events are not about getting children to read or play together. They’re about promoting homosexual and transgender ideology to little kids.
There are several problems with pro-LGBT displays like the one in Jonesboro’s children’s library, but here are two key issues:
First, the display fails to respect parental rights.
Parents have a right to talk to their children about sex and gender. By placing this sort of material front-and-center where children can’t help seeing it as they walk into the library, the library is interfering with a conversation that parents ought to be able to have with their children.
Second, the material fails to respect child welfare.
As one Jonesboro mother noted, it’s simply inappropriate to encourage young children to question their gender-identity or to consider same-sex attraction. These books should not be sitting out where a child could easily grab them off a shelf without a parent realizing it.
Families should be able to walk into a public library without worrying about the books that might be on display in the children’s area. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case in Jonesboro and in many of our other libraries.
