Utah County Bans LGBT+ Displays in Public Libraries
August 20, 2018A Utah county has outright banned LGBT+ displays in public libraries.
Washington County, Utah installed the ban after facing controversy from a Pride Month display in one of their libraries. Librarian Ammon Treasure was subsequently asked to take down his “LGBTQ Reads” button and display
Treasure said to Good4Utah, “I feel that acknowledging a group of people should not be controversial, especially when they are already within your community, it’s just education.
“There are a lot of people who have yet to come out of the closet; or are unsure whether or not they’re going to be ridiculed. We wanted to make sure they knew it was ok, that is is a neutral space. We wanted to be able to provide all of our community with information that they need.
Washington County Library Director Joel Tucker explained the decision, saying this is the first time he’s ever received complaints about a display in one of their libraries.
“I’ve been the Library Director for 5 years, and the pride displays and the pride buttons were the only complaints that I’ve ever received in regards to a display,” he said to Good4Utah.
State Senate candidate Mark Chambers expressed his disappointment in a round table discussion with Equality Utah.
“The libraries are an educational resource for the entire community, for everybody. And with this decision, they have made it into a controversial confrontation. We are better than this. We need to educate people. And that’s why we have libraries,” Chambers said.
Tucker has maintained he would like to reach a “common ground”, but will otherwise keep the ban in place.
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