Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is already beginning to implement the law.
A city in Tennessee is using a recently passed ordinance essentially prohibiting homosexuality in public to try to ban library books that might violate the new rules.
Murfreesboro passed an ordinance in June banning “indecent behavior,” including “indecent exposure, public indecency, lewd behavior, nudity or sexual conduct.” As journalist Erin Reed first reported, this ordinance specifically mentions Section 21-72 of the city code. The city code states that sexual conduct includes homosexuality.
Anyone who violates the new ordinance is barred from hosting public events or selling goods and services at public events for two years. Anyone who violates the ordinance “in the presence of minors” is barred for five years.
An ACLU-backed challenge to the ordinance has already been launched, but that hasn’t stopped city officials from implementing the measure. Last Monday, the Rutherford County steering committee met to discuss removing all books that might potentially violate the ordinance from the public library. The resolution was met with widespread outcry from city residents.
“When have the people who ban books ever been the good guys?” local activist Keri Lambert demanded during the Monday county meeting.
Murfreesboro city officials have already used the ordinance to ban four books that discuss LGBTQ themes. In August, the county library board pulled the books Flamer, Let’s Talk About It, Queerfully and Wonderfully Made, and This Book Is Gay.
The board also implemented a new library card system that categorizes books into certain age groups. When it takes effect next year, children and teenagers will only be able to check out books that correspond to their age group; they will need permission from a parent or guardian to check out “adult” books.
Library director Rita Shacklett worried in August that the new rules would prevent students from accessing books they need for a class. She explained that many classic high school books, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, are now classified as “adult.”
It’s unclear if the county steering committee plans to pull books such as the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which includes multiple depictions of heterosexual sexual conduct.
Murfreesboro’s new ordinance is part of a much larger wave of attacks on LGBTQ rights in Tennessee and the rest of the country. In the past year, the so-called Volunteer State became the first state to try to ban drag performances. That law was overturned in court.
In March, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow people to refuse to perform a marriage if they disagree with it, essentially gutting marriage equality. The bill was introduced in the Senate but deferred until next year.
link: https://newrepublic.com/post/176915/tennessee-town-ban-public-homosexuality
archive link: https://archive.ph/LFMMK
Are you saying there is no difference at all between a book that praises and encourages such things and one that reprimands it?
If I had a book that showed graphic pictures of people having sex with “do not do this, children” at the bottom, would that be appropriate for children?
Are there graphic pictures of sexual behavior in any Bibles? We’re talking about a single verse in a 1000+ page book. Assuming any child would even read that far is quite a stretch.
I see, so giant donkey dicks spewing out cum is not unacceptable for children as long as there isn’t a picture of it and it’s a long book. Well, a lot of those books being made unaccessible to children are long books with far less graphic depictions of anything sexual, so you should be against them making them adult only.
Yo DO know that the books they are trying to ban are basically fetish porn in comic format, right? If you can’t tell the difference between that and a Bible, I really can’t help you.
Yeah that’s just a flat out lie.
Just because you can’t accept yourself as you are, doesn’t mean it’s a fetish and you should be ashamed of it. Yes, I’m talking to you personally.
Just be yourself dude. Let other people be themselves. Acknowledging bisexuality exists isn’t “fetish.” Clearly discussing the difference between sex and gender isn’t “fetish.”
Stop fucking lying to make points on the internet.
It’s funny how we went from “it’s nobody’s business what people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms” to “I must be allowed to kiss my gay lover in the presence of children or it’s literally oppression”.
Giant donkey dicks that blast out cum sounds like fetish porn to me.
Alright, it’s pretty clear that we’re just going in circles here and arguing with you is pointless to say the least.
Yes, you are wrong and stupid. The end. Seriously pathetic. You don’t even know what they’re ACTUALLY banning, you’re just bitching and clutching pearls.
You are exactly what is wrong with humanity. Confidance in being ignorant. You literally just assume they’re banning valid books, even AFTER you’re told that’s not the case, you don’t even verify.
Willful ignorance is a sin.
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You pulled that right out of your ass.
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You should take a look at the types of books these people are banning, because if you think they’re all books with graphics pictures of “sexual behavior,” you are very mistaken.
If you were to actually do some research into what is actually being banned, it becomes clear pretty quickly what this is about. And it’s not “graphic pictures of sexual behavior.”
How about a third option: one that mentions it at all. Isn’t that what this is all about after all?
According to Republicans, this is about not exposing children to things like that. You can’t change the criteria for this one book, especially when that book is a religious holy book. That would violate the First Amendment by creating laws that specifically and overtly target anything based on religion.
Additionally, it’s fucking stupid.
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