'Booing' Over LGBTQ Library Books At New Berlin Meeting

NEW BERLIN, WI — Attendees alternately booed, cheered and applauded during discussion over two LGBTQ books at a New Berlin Library Board session Tuesday, an attendee said.

Nearly 40 visitors attended the 6 p.m. meeting, Library Director Natalie Beacom told Patch.

Seventeen of them made public comments about the LGBTQ-themed books "This Book Is Gay" by Juno Dawson and "Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens" by Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke, Beacom said.

Commenters had various opinions on whether to move the titles to the adult section or leave them in the young adults section, Beacom said. The discussion about moving the titles, included in an agenda item for the library's materials selection inquiry, will be addressed in a meeting Aug. 16, she said.

People who were in favor of moving the books to the adult section booed those who wanted to keep them in the young adult section, attendee Alex Corona said. Corona, the transgender program coordinator for the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center and a former school teacher, didn't speak at the meeting, she said.

In a 20-second video, a man whom Corona identified as a local preacher yelled at the library board.

"There's a God that's angry at the sin of this world and a big judgment is coming," the man in Corona's video said. "Make sure you're on the right side with your decisions."

People seated in the crowd behind him are heard in the video saying, "Amen," and clapping as he walked away from the podium.

One person told the board that the books were to help people like them who were between the ages of 13 and 25, Corona said. They were booed as well, she said.

Moving the books would be wrong because it would limit young people's ability to deal with their sexuality, Corona told Patch after the meeting. If such books were removed from libraries, young people might still identify as LGBTQ but won't have access to language to describe their situations, she said.

At the library board meeting, the issue was tabled and pushed to a later date, Corona said.

Before the meeting, a member of the New Berlin Neighbors private Facebook group posted on the issue. "There is an entire shelf full of LGBTQ books and that cover VERY graphic and crude topics," the member said. "These books have no business being located in the young adult section."

The two books have been brought to question in a neighboring city.

Elmbrook School District in Brookfield pulled the books "Queer" and "This Book Is Gay" from library shelves in July after the conservative Daily Wire website posted about them being found in the district's SORA app. Parents alleged that children as young as 8 had access to sexual content this way, The Daily Wire reported. The district denied that allegation.

See Also: 2 LGBTQ Books Pulled From Elmbrook Schools After Daily Wire Story

Eight out of the 10 most challenged books in U.S. schools, libraries and universities in 2019 included LGBTQ content, according to the American Library Association website.

In 2020, more than half of the books targeted for censorship had alleged anti-police or race issues, while only one book had LGBTQ themes, the association said.