Parents near Grand Rapids MI have "mobilized against the [government] library after it featured sexually explicit LGBT books such as 'Gender Queer: A Memoir' in a June Pride display, and library staff subsequently refused to remove them from the library," reports Washington Stand.
“Since meetings with the library staff and board had no effect, concerned citizens mounted a campaign to stop funding the library with taxpayer money. And their effort passed overwhelmingly,” confirmed FRC.
The Township’s local library, named Patmos, is deep in something else: trouble. The library will lose 84% of its annual $245,000 budget after voters refused to approve an annual millage renewal for 2023. A millage is a percentage tax on property at its assessed value, and it seems Michigan localities employ annual, voter-approved millages to fund a variety of local enterprises.
The vote wasn’t particularly close, either. It failed 1,142 votes “yes” (37.5%) to 1,905 votes “no” (62.5%). Other tax items on the ballot succeeded, including funding for the fire department and secondary road improvements. “This was such a great story to see,” FRC’s senior fellow for Education Studies Meg Kilgannon told The Washington Stand. “It captures the determination of citizens who are awake.”
How did the library’s funding become so unpopular? Although there was a rate increase from 0.4186 mills (0.04%) to 0.60 mills (0.06%), that wasn’t the real issue.
“I never saw any opposition to the actual dollar amount or taxes,” said Jesse Dillman, a resident who started a GoFundMe campaign to fund the library. “It was 100% about the cultural issue of having LGBT material in the library.”
[Dr. Chaps' comment: Ronald Reagan once said wisely, "If you can't make them see the light, then make them feel the heat." Defunding the tax-basis of the LGBT movement can protect kids from filth. Let's do this nationwide.]
n localities employ annual, voter-approved millages to fund a variety of local enterprises.
