A week after Blake Nobles, who serves as Ward 3 Alderman for the City of Petal, made a request to the Petal library to relocate certain books that may be offensive to some residents, several citizens packed Petal City Hall during the February 6 board meeting to express their opinions on that matter.
The issue began last week, when Nobles suggested that more than 10 books aimed at children less than 8 years old that include subject matter such as transgenderism, sexuality and gender dysphoria be removed from the library, or relegated to their own section in the facility. Virtually all the participants at the February 6 meeting showed their disdain for that measure, starting with Cliff Wentworth, who said he disagreed with any ideas of restricting books for his children, especially if it means public funding could be pulled from the library if the request isn’t met.
“As far as it goes, the library already has a policy (that says) kids should be accompanied by a responsible adult, and by ‘kids’ it means children under the age of 13,” he said. “If a parent doesn’t want their kid to read a book, then the parent already has a say in that, because the responsible adult is already supposed to be in the library with their kid.
“No new policy change is needed, especially one that restricts my children’s’ access to books – it is not okay. Just to be clear, it is not okay to try to ban books, and it is not okay try to pull funding from our library for a fraction of a percent of books that some people have a complaint about.”
When Nobles originally made the request to the library board, he said he had been contacted by some residents who felt the topics of gender and sexuality are confusing and inappropriate for children, and should be relegated to their own section in the library.
Alicia Brown, who is the mother of a transgender student at Petal High School, also spoke out against the measure at the board meeting. Brown said just as racism and bigotry are still present in America, so are the hate crimes related to transphobia, which start with the misunderstanding that may be found in some of the library books.
“The proposed book ban would remove children’s literature depicting families with different characteristics other than the ‘normal’ mom and dad – those of a diverse family such as two moms or two dads,” she said. “These types of families are found right here in our little city of Petal.
“It would also remove fictional characters that children may even relate to, like Joe and Sam in ‘Boy in a Tutu’ by Kate Scott. Even Mattel has made more diverse versions of their blonde-haired, blue-eyed Barbie. We now have Black Barbie, Asian Barbie, a Barbie with Down Syndrome, even a gender-neutral doll, because children need to see a version of themselves in the art and literature they consume.”
Brown said any book bans diminish the quality of education to which children have access.
“If you take away the capacity of our youth to educate themselves on subjects that are difficult and uncomfortable as children, how then would they be able to have an open conversation with their parents about gender dysphoria, transgenderism or sexuality?
“If they can freely ask these questions as a child, they can also discuss sexual activity, mental health, drugs, even sexual assault, as a teenager. I know this for a fact.”
Mayor Tony Ducker said his main goal on the matter would be to empower parents to make decisions regarding which books their children have access to.
“At the same time, some of the books I’ve seen, I wouldn’t let them in my house – I know that,” he said. “But I have had some pretty good discussions with (library director Adam Singletary) that I thought were very solution-oriented, so I feel good about everything as we sit here today.”
Ducker said library officials are currently waiting on board members to provide them with more information before a decision is made.
“I think they’re waiting on us to have something more precise in writing, to say ‘here’s what we would like to see going forward,’” he said. “Now, do all the aldermen sign onto that? I don’t know what that looks like.”
