Media Report: “Idaho Republicans Urge Libraries to Cut Ties with Group Led by ‘Marxist Lesbian’ From Boise”

From the Idaho Statesman:

Hard-right Republican lawmakers Monday called for Idaho libraries to cut ties with a national nonprofit over the sexual orientation and political views of its president, a Boise native who identifies as lesbian and Marxist. The Idaho Freedom Caucus, a coalition of 13 lawmakers co-chaired by Sen. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, and Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, urged the Idaho Commission for Libraries and all of the state’s public libraries to withdraw from the American Library Association (ALA).

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Idaho Republicans in recent years have sought to limit material available in libraries, part of a nationwide trend that’s focused on opposition to LGBTQ+ content. Previous proposals would have made librarians and public libraries liable to crimes or civil penalties for allowing children to access books considered “harmful,” which included content about homosexuality.

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“It’s time for the Idaho Commission for Libraries to follow Montana’s decision to end its membership with the ALA,” Anna Miller, director of the Freedom Foundation’s Center for American Education, wrote in a blog post. But the Idaho Commission for Libraries doesn’t have an ALA membership, and doesn’t receive funds from the group, Idaho State Librarian Stephanie Bailey-White told the Idaho Statesman. Commission staff members pay for their own memberships to the association if they choose to join the group, Bailey-White said by email.

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