A Republican mayor in a Mississippi city is withholding funds from his county’s library system, refusing to hand over the money until books containing LGBTQ representation are purged from the library’s collection.
Mayor Gene McGee of Ridgeland, Mississippi, is withholding $110,000 in funding from the Madison County Library System — the entirety of the first-quarter funds that the city owes to the county’s library program.
Tonja Johnson, the executive director of the Madison County Library System, contacted McGee when she noticed the program hadn’t received the money. The mayor told her she shouldn’t expect the funding any time soon.
“He explained his opposition to what he called ‘homosexual materials’ in the library, that it went against his Christian beliefs, and that he would not release the money as the long as the materials were there,” Johnson said in an interview with The Mississippi Free Press.
Johnson explained to McGee that the library didn’t work that way — it was there to serve everyone, not just elected officials. “I told him our collection reflects the diversity of our community,” she said.
In response, McGee said that “the library can serve whoever we wanted, but that he only serves the great Lord above,” Johnson went on.
Shortly after, the library held a board meeting — which McGee did not attend — to address the mayor’s refusal to release the funds to the library system. The library board ultimately agreed to bring the matter before the city’s board of alderman to see if the issue can be resolved there first.
McGee made the decision unilaterally, without the city board’s input.
Bob Sanders, legal counsel for the library board, was asked at the meeting if the mayor had the legal authority to ignore his contractual obligation to pay the library the $110,000 it was owed. “Uh, no,” Sanders reportedly said.
If the funds are not recovered, it “would definitely impact services,” and could even mean layoffs within the library system, Johnson said. She believes the mayor’s objections are coming from residents who complained to him, instead of to the library, about books with LGBTQ representation.
Johnson also noted that the supposedly objectionable material is mostly, if not all, books that follow LGBTQ characters or families through everyday situations and interpersonal relationships; the mayor has wrongly implied that these stories are inappropriate.
When pressed to elaborate on his reason for withholding the funds in an interview with The Mississippi Free Press, McGee said that “a large number of citizens…have complained about displays of sexual, whatever you want to call it, content.” But when asked what sexual content they complained about specifically, McGee refused to give examples.
Johnson reiterated that the library system exists not to reflect the mayor’s beliefs, but to serve everyone within the community.
“Anyone can walk into a library and find something that they don’t agree with, but the book that’s not quite right for you is exactly what someone else needs,” Johnson said. “And my job is to make sure that [everybody] has access to that.”
The county library system seems to have the support of the statewide Mississippi Library Commission (MLC). “One of the beautiful things about libraries is that libraries are for everyone,” the MLC said in a tweet on Wednesday. “No matter your age, gender, or walk of life, the perfect book is waiting for you at your local library.”
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy