Once again, the Daviess County Citizens for Decency (DCC4D) are harassing the Daviess County Public Library (DCPL) because they did not get their way last fall in banning/moving/rating the books in a way that suits their transphobic, homophobic, racists, and Christian nationalist ideology. We detail the progression of “banning/moving/rating” because every time there was pushback from the community, they scaled back their goals and rhetoric. They have maintained that any book that has non-heterosexual representation is “pornographic,” “pedophilic,” and “hurting the children.” All of this is an outright lie and informed only by their bigotry. These slanderous lies demonize the LBGTQ+ community as those who hurt children. Hurting children is the most horrific thing a human can do, and the LGBTQ+ community is NOT doing that by simply existing and having representation in literature.
In our community, the DCC4D has been harassing our public servants to push forth an agenda that tramples our First Amendment rights.
In late 2022 and early 2023, they pushed the fiscal court of Daviess County to defund the RiverPark Center for hosting drag shows. The American Peoples Collective and many other community members were there to resist them, but the DCC4D won and the RPC was defunded. When asking our officials why it was defunded, they never admit that it was because of the DCC4D’s pressure on drag shows, but unfortunately, this is indeed the case.
Then, in mid to late 2023, the DCC4D pushed for the banning/moving/rating of LGBTQ+ books and books by People of Color, deriving their list of books from the “Moms for Liberty” organization which has a bigoted history. They requested that the DCPL audit these books, and the DCPL complied. The DCPL found no reason to ban/move/rate these books in any different way than they had already been doing. Though they offered an opt-in restricted library card that allowed parents to restrict what their kids can and cannot check out, this was not enough for the DCC4D. They want to restrict what is available to read by the totality of Daviess County citizens. The American Peoples Collective, other organizations, and the people of Daviess County were there to stop them, voice our concern, and ensure your rights are upheld.
Late last year, DCC4D submitted a FOIA request to DCPL for all their communications (emails, messages) regarding the audit requested by DCC4D. The DCPL complied, and the Attorney General agreed that the DCPL followed the law in handing over all communications regarding the audit. But again, this was not enough for the DCC4D. They are convinced that there are other messages that exist that somehow incriminate the DCPL. The DCC4D asserts that there are more emails that were not handed over, and if the emails do not exist they must have been deleted. This logic presents us with an allegation that our local public library is actively engaging in suspicious activity by hiding and deleting communications. This deceptive and dishonest reasoning presents the DCC4D as victims of bias, and the DCPL as not complying with a governmental process. They seek to appeal the AG’s decision that the DCPL fulfilled the FOIA request lawfully. The DCC4D is trying to find evidence of bias though there is a lack of evidence of it. Their plan is to gather this “evidence” to present the DCPL as violating an FOIA request, so that they can further harass them with a lawsuit. This intended lawsuit is clearly a punishment on the DCPL for not bowing to their bigoted demands. The DCC4D intends to punish the DCPL for standing with the people of Daviess County, and for standing with the right to freedom of speech and choice. This lawsuit also wastes the time, energy, and funds of the government and the library, which is a waste of your money.
We, the American Peoples Collective, will be there when the DCC4D tramples our First Amendment rights and our representation in our governmental institutions. We will be there just as we were at the RiverPark and DCPL last year.
We will stand side by side with the community of Daviess County and drown out the voices of the DCC4D with our own.
We are the majority and have been at every incursion with the DCC4D. The American Peoples Collective stands with the people of Daviess County against the Christo-fascist tyranny of the DCC4D and always will.
Solidarity,
Galil Golani, The American Peoples Collective
