It’s not censorship: Why relocating LGBTQIA books to the adult section protects both rights and kids
Middle Tennessee has just experienced the kind of socio-political kerfuffle that is roiling the cultural waters in many similar places across America.
This struggle for control of one of the basic social institutions of any town, the public library, is yet one more symptom of the fact that a serious contest is playing out across the landscape of our nation for the “high ground” in the very real culture wars over basic values.
The precipitating issue for the controversy in Rutherford County, a central Tennessee county 30 minutes east of Nashville, which has 367,000 residents, was how much unsupervised access children would have to LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) children’s books in the Rutherford County Library System. For context, it should be noted that Rutherford County voted 66.1% for President Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The Rutherford County Library System's new director, Luanne James, was fired from her position because she would not move the 132 books in question to the adult-only section of all the library’s branches.
Ms. James believes the removal of the 132 books from the children’s section of the libraries is censorship. She asserted that removing the books “would violate the First Amendment rights of all citizens of Rutherford County and myself.”
She went on to declare that it is “unconstitutional to the writers of the books.” She explained, “That author wrote that book for children. That’s censorship. Children also have the right to read that book that was written for them.”
It needs to be understood that the 132 books in question were not being removed from circulation for the library, just from the children’s sections. Adults would still have access to them, and parents could make the decision to allow their children to have access to these volumes if, and when, they believed it would be appropriate and helpful.
The real question is one of parental authority and parental control. As Christians, we believe that the children are God’s children and that He has assigned primary responsibility for their nurturing and rearing to their parents, not public librarians or teachers in public schools.
The Rutherford Public Library System does not have the right to intrude on the parents’ rights to determine if, and when, their children should be exposed to the controversial and mature themes represented by LGBTQIA. The Rutherford County library system is putting into practice a very old and familiar principle in American law — the protection of minors from exposure to material that is considered by society to be too mature for them to be exposed to without parental guidance.
This principle has been extended traditionally in American law to minors being considered too immature to consider all the consequences of certain adult decisions, and thus, they are protected by various ratings on movies and adult “entertainment,” as well as statutory rape laws protecting minors from predatory behavior by irresponsible adults.
One can, and should, expect that issues such as this one that Rutherford County is dealing with will increasingly cause friction and disruption across our nation. As people discuss the issues and work out the policies, they must be careful in the language they use in order not to needlessly inflame emotions and intentions.
Rutherford County did not “ban” or “censor” any books. The books are available for children when and if their parents deem them to be appropriate.
I believe that is as it should be. Speaking for my wife and myself, we would have taken great umbrage if anyone, librarian or not, had tried to take that decision away from us as parents. I suspect that millions of parents feel similarly and will act appropriately if similarly challenged.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
