UPDATE: After this piece was published, and after receiving a swift backlash over its book ban, the Smithtown Library Board has reversed its decision to remove Pride-related books from its children’s section.
A library board in New York is getting hammered after its members voted to dismantle LGBTQ+ displays during Pride Month, sparking outrage among everyone from local residents all the way up to the governor and a famous author.
Trustees of the Smithtown Library Board on Long Island voted to remove signs for Pride and any LGBTQ+-related books from children’s sections Tuesday, NBC New York reported. The move, which was passed in a 4-2 decision, will affect all four library buildings in the Smithtown system. Books related to sexual orientation and gender identity will indefinitely be removed from children’s areas—regardless of the literature’s targeted audience—and put elsewhere.
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On the Smithtown Library and Smithtown Library Kids’ Facebook pages, trustees released a statement saying, “After a lengthy discussion, the Board voted 4-2 to approve the following: Motion to remove all Pride Displays, in addition to removing all books of the same subject on display, from all Children's sections in all Smithtown Library buildings.
“Please understand that all books on this subject are still part of the Library's Children's collection and can be checked out by anyone wishing to do so,” the note continued. “These titles have not been removed from the collection. The Library continues to display Pride month displays in our Teen and Adult areas.”
The move was immediately met with disbelief.
“This isn’t Alabama or Florida or the Bible Belt! This is Long Island!” New York LGBTQ Network president Dr. David Kilmnick said, according to NBC New York.
New York Times bestselling-author Jodi Picoult, who grew up on Long Island, said in a tweet that her first job was working at the Smithtown Library. She said she now felt as if she had to re-evaluate her upbringing based upon the board’s censorship.
“I’m disgusted by the trustees who voted for this. Libraries are for all, & representation matters,” she wrote.
Even New York Gov. Kathy Hochul weighed in, tweeting, “For many LGBTQ+ kids, libraries are one of the few spaces where they can be welcomed and affirmed for who they are. Our public spaces should be accepting our young people — not rejecting them. To LGBTQ+ New Yorkers: We stand with you, we support you, & you are welcome here.”
According to local Long Island media outlet Newsday, board trustee Marie Gergenti proposed the idea to remove Pride displays and books after receiving complaints about them but didn’t specify what those complaints were.
The Daily Beast was unable to reach Gergenti or other board trustees for comment Thursday.
Despite the complaints Gergenti said she received, New Yorkers both inside and outside the Smithtown-area rushed to social media to blast the board’s decision.
New York State Assembly Economic Development Chair Harry Bronson called the move “deeply disturbing” and “nothing less than a direct move by their board of trustees to silence and suppress our LGBTQ+ community during pride month.”
“As the only openly gay state elected official outside of NYC, I’m calling on the families of Smithtown and the surrounding area to contact their trustees and urge them to reconsider this narrow minded decision rooted in bigotry,” he added.
The New York Library Association reaffirmed its “commitment to intellectual freedom,” and condemned the move.
“This ban of any displays related to Pride sets a dangerous precedent for libraries across the state because it normalizes the victimization of LGBTQ+ youth in their schools and in their communities, which has dire consequences,” the organization said in a statement.
By Thursday afternoon, the library’s Facebook post had received more than a thousand comments.
“Representation matters at all ages,” commented Long Island resident Rachel Miller. “The displays should be put back up.”
“As one half of a gay couple that moved our family to Smithtown last year this definitely doesn’t make us feel like we’ve made the right decision,” Luis A. Santiago-Baird wrote. “We want to live and raise our sons in a community that is inclusive, accepting and stands against bigotry and intolerance. Pride matters because representation matters. Pride matters because it’s a celebration of diversity, self acceptance, individuality, love and honoring those who came before that paved the way so we can live our best lives. Removing Pride displays is sending a negative and dangerous message to our kids.”
According to the library’s website, the Smithtown board will hold an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss reinstating the LGBTQ+ displays and books and extending the Pride celebration through July.
Hochul’s office also said in a statement Thursday that the New York State Division of Human Rights would investigate.
“Public places are prohibited by law from engaging in discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Hochul said. “We will not tolerate a ‘Don't Say Gay’ philosophy taking root in our state.”
