BILLINGS — In a public meeting Monday morning at the Billings Public Library, community members discussed library programs in relation to LGBTQ+ partnerships. It’s one of several discussions on this topic happening right now in communities throughout Montana.
“We want to be a library for everybody,” said one public commenter at the library Monday morning.
What spurred this meeting was a few emails sent to the Billings City Council by several parents, concerned about some of the books now available to kids inside the Billings Public Library.
“We’re asking for a boundary to be set for our children,” said mother Alba Pimentel.
Pimentel was one of the parents to send emails, arguing the library is pushing a gender ideology agenda by offering children’s books discussing gender identity.
“Another one said, I stopped taking my kids to the Billings library about a year before we moved away due to political LGBTQ plus agenda being pushed,” said another concerned parent, Jessie Browning, as she read comments from other parents who are also concerned.
They aren’t asking for the library to remove the books.
“In regards to book banning or books being removed or any of that, that is not why we’re here,” said Pimentel.
But they do want the library to make changes.
“Something as simple as, put a sticker on that book, letting us know that there’s some gender stuff going on there for our children. So that when we choose the book, we know it’s in there and we can easily say, like one of the members here said, you can’t use that book,” Pimentel said.
Most of the estimated 120 people gathered at the library felt much differently.
“That tells us that you believe that your kinds of families are the default and that mine are abnormal, are abhorrent, and somehow less than,” said Marcus Frye of 406 Pride.
Allies are worried about inclusion.
“There’s a reason those books are blended in with the other books because we are blended in within our community. We’re not separate, so these books should not be separate either,” said Billings business owner April Veach.
One of the loudest voices in the crowd belonged to Adria Jawort. A Native American trans woman, Jawort is currently suing the state over legislation passed this year that, among other things, bans drag story hours at libraries.
“These laws are very slippery slope, and now the city of Butte is getting sued over it, so if you want to consider passing laws like this, you’ll have to consider, you’ll probably get sued for it,” Jawort said.
It’s a political hot potato pitting parents against parents, and a debate that will likely continue with no action taken Monday.
