Guest columnist: Pride Month display puts small Ga. library at center of culture wars

A small part of the world, Waycross, Ga., has somehow become the center of a cultural and religious war. Our public library, part of the Okefenokee Regional Library System (including Ware, Pierce, Bacon, Clinch and Appling Counties), is the focal point.

Beginning last year, fundamentalist church members began attacking the Waycross Public Library for having a string of multicolored flags hanging behind the counter. These flags were originally displayed for Pride Month but were left up because many in the LGBTQ community saw it as a welcoming sign. At a board of trustees meeting in October 2022, it was voted for the flags to be removed and not be displayed again until the next Gay Pride month.

This was the tip of the iceberg.

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The library later purchased a wall mural with the words “Libraries are for everyone” and graphics that depict a variety of professions, races, religions, etc. One of the small graphics is a rainbow-colored heart.

The fundamentalist group organized and created an agenda of two demands: Remove all displays (especially the mural) that mention sexuality or all displays totally and change public bathroom usage so that a patron or staff member must use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological gender at birth. They are actively using social media and have distributed a petition to local businesses.

The LGBTQ/free speech group organized into The Okefenokee Library Alliance and began meeting regularly. This group shares information publicly, through social and other media, while maintaining a presence at all board meetings.

Currently, the display issue has not been voted on by the regional board of trustees. The bathroom issue is under investigation as to the cost and legality. The Okefenokee Regional Library has retained an attorney, Wade Herring, who presented at the last meeting. In very clear terms he advised the board about potential violation of the First Amendment in attempting to eliminate displays from the library. He presented legal precedent and was clearly well-versed on this topic. Two board members stated they disagreed and would seek a second legal opinion.

All this being said, it is still not a picture of the chaos in the library building at this time. There have been groups praying and singing, arguing and milling around while actual patrons, including children, are trying to use the library as it was intended. Over the past months, the library staff has had to endure pressure and intimidation from this outside group while trying to effectively do their jobs.

There does not appear to be an end in sight. There is a strong likelihood that there will be lawsuits in the future, but even before that the specter of conflict — possibly violence ― also looms. At our most recent meeting, a man wearing a “Proud Boys” T-shirt was spotted (a group that figured prominently in the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol).

Our country is in danger. The principles of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are actively being threatened. As a proud Jewish person, this unpleasantly calls back to the Nazis mandating the wearing of symbols to identify everyone that was not Aryan (yellow stars for Jews, pink triangles for gay people, etc.). Hyperbole? Maybe, but still very real and true.

There is no middle ground in this war. Staying in the middle is giving up your right to claim your own identity. The enemy is an extreme minority that unfortunately believes they have the right to dictate to the rest of us.

Please educate yourselves on these issues; there are numerous social media sites that are available: EveryLibrary; Freedom to Read; and the Okefenokee Library Alliance on Facebook. And consider supporting the ACLU, because I think we’re going to need them before this is all over.

Barbara Griffin, LMSW, Okefenokee Library Alliance

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Pride flags, inclusion mural in Waycross library at heart of debate