Passionate opinions about library materials expressed at packed town hall meeting

POCATELLO — A large crowd of people packed into the Pocatello City Council Chambers Tuesday night to address the council and the public. The town hall was organized by Mayor Brian Blad and the main issue of discussion was content in the library relating to gender identity.

The chamber room was at maximum capacity, so people gathered in the standing room and watched the speakers on a broadcast.

While a small number of people spoke on topics unrelated to the library, the vast majority of those in attendance spoke either against some of the content they deem as harmful or in favor of the materials they view as lifesaving.

Some people spoke about how they hadn’t seen content before that represented queer identities in media and that has helped them come to terms with their identity. Many parents shared the sentiment that they should be able to parent their own children and determine what content is harmful for them.

The comments people made calling content in the library harmful mostly consisted of claims that the Marshall Public Library contains pedophilic and pornographic materials in its catalog. One title in particular seemed to garner the most outrage called “Gender Queer: A Memoir” which speakers claimed was available to children.

A search in the libraries catalog shows that “Gender Queer” is listed as adult fiction and shelved in the adult graphic novels section. This section is on the second floor of the library and kept entirely separate from the children’s graphic novel section, which is on the first floor.

“Anyone who hands those books to a child anywhere, they’d be in jail,” Larry Anderson told EastIdahoNews.com after the meeting. “This is grooming, as in deliberate perversion of our children. It’s deliberate destruction of family, of values, of home, of our future as a nation and a country. Our enemies in this world are seeing this and laughing at America.”

Kellie Pierce was at the meeting and rebuffs the idea that the book is pornography.

“I don’t believe the book that they’re talking about is pornographic. I believe that it is adult content and that adults are reading it,” Pierce said. She points out that she has a transgender child who has never read the book.

“These books are not pedophilic books. They’re not talking about these types of things, they’re talking about a queer experience that many people have had,” she explained. “I think we do live in a fairly conservative, fairly religious community and I think people should be able to worship as they please. It’s important that we have an inclusive community that we’re an inclusive LGBTQIA community.”

Anderson asserts that his opposition to the title isn’t about it being a story that reflects queer experience.

“This is about our children. It’s not about LGBTQ-whatever, they can do what they want. This is not what it’s about,” Anderson said. “Even if parents give that stuff to their kids, they’re still perverts. It’s still pedophilia. They’re practicing it on their own children. That’s illegal too. Any of that material is total pornography.”

Pierce said that she doesn’t allow her kids to go to the library unsupervised, and she doesn’t know any parents that do.

“I’m a parent so I can allow and I can talk to my kids about what’s appropriate and what’s not and I think that’s our decision as parents,” Pierce said.

While many people spoke in adherence to the Public Comment Guidelines, there were also a number of disruptions where people interrupted the speaker during their allotted two minutes of speaking time. When Blad ended the meeting, some voices shouted but were shut down quickly.

“I want to express my appreciation to you for being here tonight and for everybody,” Blad said. “I honestly believe we have an asset in our LGBTQ community. We can learn an awful lot from them.”

The Marshall Public Library became the focus of controversy when members of Christian churches and MassResistance, an anti-LGBT, pro-traditional family advocacy group, occupied Reading Time with the Queens, an event where drag queens read stories and do crafts with kids who are attending along with their parents.

Rowan Smith, a former library employee, told EastIdahoNews.com he supports the program.

“Pocatello has an incredible community where I as a very out and public queer person and the other board members of Reading Time with the Queens have had nothing but support, other than like 60 people who hate us, don’t want us to be alive or live in the community,” Smith said.

Frank Hatch questioned why Reading Time with the Queens exists.

“Why do you as a queen need to go and read to children. What business do you have with going and reading for children?” Hatch asked EastIdahoNews.com after the event. “I don’t want them anywhere. If they want to teach their families themselves then leave my kids, my grandkids and your kids alone.”

Since the controversy, Reading Times with the Queens has been moved to the Temple Emanuel Jewish synagogue.

“I think a lot of people invested in the safety of Pocatello’s queer community also know that it will not stop with us. This is not a thing that’s going to stop once we are out of the library or out of public view. People who have a really clear idea of how they think everyone should live are not going to stop until that’s seen to its end,” Smith said.