LGBTQ+ related books a hot topic in Abilene City Council meeting

ABILENE, Texas — At the Abilene City Council Thursday morning a group of parents filled the public comment period to discuss the desire for removing LGBTQ+ related books from the children's sections of the Abilene public libraries.

Francisca Rodriguez was one of the parents who spoke at the meeting, and she said, “We are not promoting banning books, burning books or any of those things. We are just asking for these books to be put in a safe area where parent permission has to be given before these graphic topics are exposed to our children, summer is coming and the libraries will be full of kids. Kids will be able to access topics on very very sensitive material and parents may not be aware of what the child is reading.”

Rodriguez and a handful of other parents say they don’t want the books removed entirely, just out of the children’s section.

We reached out to the Abilene Pride Alliance, a leading voice in the area when it comes to LGBTQ+ issues, and they had a strong reaction to this topic. They released a statement which reads in part, “We when teach our children to devalue the lives of marginalized people be they black or white, rich or poor, gay or straight, then they can devalue anyone. No matter who you are or where you come from, everyone can agree that people deserve to be treated equally and fairly.”

They went on to say that they stand with the Abilene community with love and understanding for one another, no matter who they may be.

The council hearing this issue for the first time took no action and it’s unclear if they will act on this at all.

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