The Glowering Mob

 

They glowered. They were angry. They were intimidating. And they were vocal in ways that can only be considered hateful and bullying.

They came in force. Still, the crowd was about equal, between the LGBTQ+ community and their allies and those preaching an unrecognizable form of what they considered Christianity.

Yesterday, the Waycross Ware County Library held its meeting when it would decide about the display that you see in the picture above. Incongruously, it kept being referred to as a flag.   How is that a flag? It's a series of colors designed to represent EACH AND EVERYONE OF US.

Nevertheless, the hatred towards it was palatable. You could feel it pulsing across the room.

Even though the group was supposed to stay silent (no one had followed the procedure of signing up to speak), they couldn't do it. They demanded to talk anyways, rules be damned. They threatened to flood the meeting with even more people next time. One man said they would fill Memorial Stadium (where the local high school football team played) next time as if this was simply about the sheer force of numbers. Another threatened the library if they did not cave. And another monstrously compared LGBTQ people to pedophiles.

I lost it when they said that. I shot up from my seat, pain, and anger in my eyes, shaking, ready to go to verbal combat. Fortunately for everyone, my recently retired Reverand, Rev Kit, was sitting behind me and got me to restrain myself. For the whole meeting, the behavior of the LGBTQ+ was remarkably polite and controlled.

Many left after it was clear they would not get to speak, and their constant interrupting has worn thin. Like the last meeting, when they had their say, they left before listening to anybody else. It's one of the rudest behaviors I've seen in my life.

The Board, led by the skilled and diplomatic chairman, Tawanna Harris, did everything she could to steer the Board to the most politically sensible compromise she could. It was agreed to take down the rainbow display and only consistently display the American and Georgia flags. In addition, it was amended so that seasonal displays could include symbols relating to the group/season displayed. It was hard to tell, but to me, it looked like Board member Cheryl Jacobs voted against removing the rainbow display, and the amended motion did not seem to win the support of Board member Candice Rice. So, for most, compromise was in the air.

Unfortunately, what they did was not compromise. It was appeasement. And appeasement never ends things. Just as Neville Chamberlain how well it went trying to appease Hitler. Or today, why the Ukrainians don't want to appease Putin with territorial concessions. Because Hitler didn't stop. Putin won't stop.

This is just the beginning. They will interpret the compromise as a weakness, a sign that they can push further. The speeches and Memorial Stadium-size crowds are still coming. They will attack other displays, book clubs, and, yes, books themselves. They will not be happy until the library only reflects and serves Christian Nationalism.

I don't have an answer for the Board. Given political realities, they may have done the only thing they felt they could. But more is coming their way.

And the only thing we can do is to keep emphasizing our openness and love. When censorship and exclusion thrive, we all lose.

Board members talked about a divided community and how they just wanted to bridge the differences. The problem is that the community is not divided, not in any sense that compromise helps. One group wants merely to be accepted and welcomed. The other wants to oppress and exclude. IT'S NOT TWO GROUPS TRYING TO EXCLUDE EACH OTHER. Only one group stands for oppression. This is not a division of equal demands.

I pray that our library makes no further concessions and that the staff remains open and inviting. However, I fear that the forces of oppression will dwarf those who stand for inclusion and that the nightmare is just beginning.

Ultimately, I encourage as many of you that can live up to the words I am familiar with as a Superman fan - 

Never give up. Never surrender.

PS  I left out of the post the fact that the Library did put up a mural with the phrase Libraries are for Everyone (paraphrasing), and had pictures of diverse individuals enjoying library services.  It is not a direct substitute for the rainbow display, but it is appreciated.