CV NEWS FEED // Texas on Thursday became the latest state to cut ties with the American Library Association (ALA), citing the group’s embrace of leftist political positions.
State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-TX, announced the decision on X (formerly known as Twitter), writing that the move was a “Huge win!”
Harrison had asked the Texas State Library and Archives Commission “last month to cut ties after electing a radical socialist and self-described ‘Marxist lesbian’ as President.”
The lawmaker referred to new ALA President Emily Drabinski, who upon her election tweeted that she believes “collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world.” She later deleted the post.
Earlier this month, Drabinski called the backlash against her words “regrettable” and claimed she only meant to “highlight and celebrate two aspects” of her “identity.”
“This is a win for all Texans, Harrison stated this week, “and I applaud the courageous and decisive decision by Chairwoman Martha Wong. Texas should be leading the fight against dangerous Marxist ideology – not subsidizing it with my constituents’ hard earned tax dollars.”
He vowed to “continue fighting to protect Texans from having their money weaponized against them, their values, and their children.”
In his July 20 letter to Wong, Harrison wrote:
I have been made aware that the [ALA] has elected Emily Drabinski, a self-proclaimed ‘Marxist lesbian’ and member of the Democratic Socialists of America as President. This shocking information has caused the Montana State Library Commission to leave the ALA and has led state legislators across the country to demand their Commissions do the same.
Texas should be leading the fight against Marxist ideology; not subsidizing it.
Before being elected to the State House in a 2021 special election, Harrison served in the Presidential administrations of both George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Under Trump, Harrison served as the Chief of Staff of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Earlier this month, CatholicVote reported:
A coalition of 13 conservative organizations called on more states to break ties with the American Library Association (ALA) over its embrace of gender ideology and other far-left beliefs.
In a letter, the coalition wrote:
We cannot stand idly by as our own tax dollars are used to intimidate millions of Americans, trample their parental rights, and control their access to information. On behalf of the millions of Americans that our groups represent, we call on the state and religious affiliates of the ALA to sever their relationships with this problematic organization. We further call on state legislatures to ensure that no taxpayer dollars can be used by these associations or by state and local libraries to support the ALA in any way.
On July 7, Missouri became the first state to break with the library group, with Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft writing to ALA Executive Director Tracie Hall that he “cannot continue to support an organization that does not protect the first amendment rights of Missourians and refuses to follow its own governing documents.”
In his letter to Hall, Ashcroft cited the ALA’s advocacy of stopping faith-based groups from holding story hours, which he called a “blatantly political stance.”
Montana became the second state to drop the ALA, just days after Missouri. Referring to Drabinski’s election, the Montana State Library Commission stated that their “oath of office and resulting duty to the Constitution forbids association with an organization led by a Marxist.”
Prior to this summer’s cascade of states deciding to leave the ALA, the organization had repeatedly defended promoting pornographic “pride” aimed at minors.
Again from CatholicVote:
In April, the ALA expressed support for a list of 13 “challenged” books, including the pornographic novel Gender Queer, which is primarily marketed toward minors and contains an explicit illustration depicting a minor fantasizing about being molested by an adult.
In June, the ALA responded to CatholicVote’s successful Hide the Pride campaign accusing the effort to protect children from harmful books of being “an unethical and hateful censorship tactic that has long been used by censors to circumvent a library’s reconsideration processes and to stigmatize and erase the voices of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Read more:
Library Association Defends Sexually Graphic Kids’ Books Protested by Parents
American Library Association, Others Attack Parents for Protecting Kids from ‘Trans’ Books
