Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is already beginning to implement the law.

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

  • IHadTwoCows@lemm.ee
    1·
    1 year ago

    What sort of “data” do you want? Are you asking if their mental health is better when they are accepted, or if it’s better if they have to live in fear of bullies and evangelical fuckwits who constantly tell them that they’re evil? Which do YOU think is going to have a better outcome?

    • PepeLivesMatter
      1·
      1 year ago

      Hard data. Peer reviewed, long term studies would be best. Got any of those? Otherwise we’re just arguing opinions. Clearly you already know what I think would work best: not seducing or enticing them to engage in any premarital sex, gay or or otherwise. Also, again, I do not and have not advocated for using violence or letting them live in fear, although a certain amount of fear is likely unavoidable because like you said there ARE dangerous people out there who seek to corrupt them, although we probably disagree on who exactly those people are.

      • IHadTwoCows@lemm.ee
        1·
        1 year ago

        All proof available in all data on the subject says you are dead wrong on every metric. “No premarital sex” is absolutely fucking stupid and is entirely ignorant of reality. Teenagers fuck…deal with it. In my opinion nobody should marry before age 35, if even at all because marriage is a statist construct, not a religious one. I get the very strong feeling from your positions that you want the ability to marry and own 14-year-old girls.