A county fired its entire library board for refusing to ban a trans children's book [View all]

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/12/a-county-fired-its-entire-library-board-for-refusing-to-ban-a-trans-childrens-book/

Author Kyle Lukoff’s 2019 children’s book — the first in a series of picture books about the title character — follows a young transgender boy’s coming-out journey at school and eventually to his parents. As public radio station WFDD notes, the book is the only one of the nearly 20,000 books in the library’s children’s collection to so much as mention gender identity.

Trustees reasoned that young children are already required to be accompanied by adults who can review the books they want to check out from the library, while some members also said that removing the book would lead to a “slippery slope.”


Randolph County residents who wanted to see the book banned took the issue to county commissioners. Forty community members spoke both for and against the library board at a December 8 public hearing on the issue.

Among those who spoke were library board trustees Steve Grove and Betty Armfield. Grove explained that trustees “rely on highly trained librarians” when deciding what material belongs on library shelves, while Armfield said the board had adhered to its own rules and its responsibility to serve the entire community.

Following public comment, Chairman Darrell Frye reportedly spoke about a family member who took their own life after being “brainwashed” on social media.

“It’s about, to me, exposing a child before it’s able to make a decision. It’s personal to me,” Frye said, according to the Randolph Hub.