#Republicans defund libraries

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Republican tyranny comes with a high price. Services to the elderly, the physically handicapped, and children were cut without warning. A right-wing group funded by oligarch backed Republican political foundations swept in without warning and launched a blitz campaign against books and woke agenda. They destroyed a county library system before anyone could mobilize against them.

Attacks on libraries and school boards are still ongoing everywhere. They have the backing of Republican think tanks funded by billionaires. Once the local MAGA agitators are fired up they descend on communities and often use threats and violence to get their way. Once they get a law is changed it’s almost impossible to restore equity.

Their stated written goal is total war against the US. They want to change everything they consider woke, helpful to the poor, elderly, and marginalized and “fill every position from dog catcher to president with a Republican.” This was the Bannon-Trump plan in 2016, it’s in Project 2025, and the Republican political foundations are all openly pressing for it.

The United States will be a literal theocratic dictatorship run by corporate oligarchs through fascist Republican tyrants. It’s not speculation or hysteria. It’s their literal plan written down and published for all to see.

#traitor trump #corporate greed #crooked donald #republican hypocrisy #oligarch assholes #republicans defund schools #Republicans defund libraries #project 2025 #Steve Bannon #oligarch political foundations #Republican fascists #theocracy is coming #republican assholes

[not-safe-for-democracy]

Missouri House Republicans voted to defund all of the state’s public libraries, in a proposed $45.6 billion state budget that will soon move to a vote in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

Source April 11, 2023

#things republican-controlled states are up to #republicans #defunding libraries #libraries

[meandmybigmouth]

Adult MAGA rage is making schools more dangerous for students

Adult MAGA rage is making schools more dangerous for students (msn.com)

the hatreds and obsessions of MAGA adults are trickling down into the lives of children, and causing real harm and even death.

It's another Republican agenda!

#donald trump #republicans #congress #religion #defund education #turn library's into detention centers #ban books

[werechicken]

oh no plz don’t defund the military whatever will they do without the 500 trillion dollars that can be better spent on infrastructure and public railroads and public schools and public libraries and public utilities and

[liberalsarecool]

How does defunding libraries help children? Republicans are so afraid of learning and growing, they want minds to be helpless, numbed and indifferent to the world.

The GOP is obsessed with submission.

[soberscientistlife]

The same Missouri House Republicans who voted AGAINST banning minors from openly carrying firearms on public land without adult supervision…

Just voted to DEFUND all of the state’s public libraries.

So, things are clearly going well in the Show-Me state. 🙄

Source: @JoJoFromJerz Twitter

[ftafp]

Here's are the risks YOU PERSONALLY are imposing on every queer, bipoc, and disabled person in the US if you refuse to vote in the elections

The criminalization of trans and nonbinary people

A nationwide repeal of gay marriage rights

The complete gutting or possibly dissolution of the Environmental Protection Agencies and most of its policies

The removal of laws preventing price-gouging on life-saving medications

The deportation of nearly every undocumented immigrant in the country

The defunding of most public libraries, museums, community centers, parks, nursing centers, and transporation

Increasing suppression of the rights of non-christians

Increasing militarization of the police

A widespread increase of voter suppression

The loss of nearly one-third of the senate to republicans

The loss of the majority of the house of representatives to republicans

The replacement of aging supreme court justices with republicans who will retain their positions for the next 30-40 years

In short:

VOTE YOU FUCKING DUMBASS!

#politics #fucking idiots #every one of you

[kp777]

#library #reading #education #politics #far right politics #can't fathom the sheer stupidity

[ragemovement]

#politics #news #capitalism #missouri #public libraries #schools #education #book bans

[justabeautifulgirl]

Here is a full listing of likely bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community released on the first day of legislative prefiling in Missouri:

Potential Anti-LGBTQ+ bills:

HB1519 - This bill would make it so that hospital systems “could not discriminate” against doctors that refuse to provide or assist in gender affirming care, including office workers and pharmacists.

HB1520 - This bill would remove the exception allowing those youth who have already started gender affirming care care to continue getting care.

HB1574 - This bill would defund libraries that don’t ban books or that host drag queen story hours (referred to as “inappropriate events”).

HB1405 - This bill would force teachers to misgender their trans students unless they have parental permission.

HB1426 - This bill would ban online “material harmful to minors” without an age verification process.

HB1543 - A bill that would charge school employees with a crime for providing books that are judged to be “explicitly sexual,” potentially affecting LGBTQ+ books.

HB1674 - This bill has no text yet, but entitled the “employee restroom and locker room access act” and the Republican sponsor of the bill recently tweeted about trans bathroom and locker room access.

SB726 - This bill is titled “Relating to gender transition,” proposed by Republican Senator Hoskins.

SB728 - This bill would force the outing of trans students to their parents

SB770 - This bill would ban trans participation in sports and critical race theory in schools, among other things.

SB776 - This bill removes the expiration date on the gender affirming care ban and likely also removes the grandfather clause that allowed people who already started getting care to continue to obtain that care.

SB868 - This bill is titled “prohibiting discussion of certain topics by school personnel,” likely will include LGBQT+ topics.

SB949 - This bill has no text, but its title suggests it is likely a public drag ban given other drag bans sharing similar titles.

SB950 - This bill is an obscenity law likely targeting LGBTQ+ books.

SB951 - This bill is titled “Relating to sexual offenses,” and the author is notorious for anti-LGBTQ+ bills. It will likely will be a bill targeting LGBTQ+ topics, likely public drag.

SB961 - This is a “Material harmful to minors” law that will likely target LGBTQ+ materials.

SB1024 - This is a “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” bill.

SB1061 - This is a company boycott ban for companies boycotting a state due to anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

SB1084 - This is an obscenity bill that applies to online websites. It could target LGBTQ+ content.

SB1185 - This bill removes the expiration date on the gender affirming care ban and likely also removes the grandfather clause that allowed people who already started getting care to continue to obtain that care.

SB1187 - This bill has no text, likely is drag ban, and is titled “Relating to sexually oriented businesses”

Potential LGBTQ+ protective bills:

SB787 - Prohibits discrimination based on someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

SB1289- No text, but titled “relating to conversion therapy for minors” and likely a conversion therapy ban.

#legislation #lgbtq #lgbtqia #queer community #trans #gay #bi #pan #lesbian

[hookahpop]

Missouri republicans are voting to defund public libraries. This after they’ve already banned over 3,000 books. Of course, we can’t forget about the anti trans laws and anti abortion laws.

This state is falling apart, and we have got to step it up and get these old guys out of office. I know it’s hard to do, especially in more rural areas where a lot of these people run unopposed. But this is my home, and I don’t feel safe here anymore. I refuse to go down without a fight

#Missouri more like misery #missouri #politics #us politics #us current events #current events

[rickmctumbleface]

They can't do anything about all this gun violence, because 'bans don't work', but they can shut down libraries, eh? They're the party of a**holes. 😡

#gop #fascists #library

[foreverlogical]

In at least two states across America governments are trying to shutter public libraries in response to legal action attempting to overturn bans on books conservatives oppose, while one Republican U.S. Congressman is calling public libraries “liberal grooming centers.”

One Texas county is considering shutting down all its libraries in response to a judge ordering books some locals oppose to be returned to its shelves, as NCRM was among the first to report. A federal judge ordered Llano County to return books with LGBTQ and race-related content to library shelves, after seven local residents who wanted the books available to the public filed a First and Fourteenth Amendment lawsuit, saying removal of the books violated their civil rights.

In response to the judge ordering books be returned to shelves, Llano County officials will meet on Thursday to consider not only shutting down all its libraries, but terminating the employment of everyone who works in those libraries.

In an even more vindictive move, one Republican House lawmaker in Missouri was so enraged over a lawsuit from the ACLU, filed on behalf of the Missouri Association of School Librarians and the Missouri Library Association, that he pushed through legislation that defunds all public libraries across the state.

READ MORE: ‘Fascism Plain and Simple’: Critics Blast Trump for Saying America’s ‘Biggest Problem’ Is Its Own ‘Sick Radical People’

That bill passed on Tuesday, stripping more than $4.5 million budgeted for public libraries from the state’s budget should it be signed into law.

The ACLU is attempting to have a court “declare Senate Bill 775 unconstitutional, a bill that has resulted in over 300 books getting banned from school libraries, many of which include LGBTQ characters or racial justice themes,” as Heartland Signal reports.

SB 775 was signed into law last year. It “made it a crime to provide minors with sexually explicit visual material, leading librarians across the state to remove anything from their collections that they thought could be considered criminal,” NPR reported. “Librarians or other school officials could face up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine for violating the policy.”

Missouri House budget committee chairman Rep. Cody Smith “argued that the state should not ‘subsidize’ the lawsuit with government aid. But the Missouri Library Association, a nonprofit representing Missouri’s librarians, put out a statement stating they are not providing any funding for this lawsuit, as the ACLU is aiding them pro bono.”

Adding another wrinkle to the issue, a Tuesday MSNBC opinion piece notes: “The problem, though, is that Missouri Republicans aren’t the only ones mounting up against libraries. Late last month, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., tweeted: ‘Over time, American communities will build beautiful, church owned public-access libraries. I’m going to help these churches get funding. We will change the whole public library paradigm. The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.'”

Pointing to an NBC News report on Llano County considering to shutter its libraries, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, a professor of law at The University of Alabama School of Law tweeted, “Just like public pools were closed in the south after desegregation was ordered.”

READ MORE: ‘Straight Pride’ Organizer Indicted by Federal Grand Jury for Alleged Role in January 6 Insurrection

Morgan Fairchild, the well-known actress and activist, weighed in saying, “I never want to hear another word from a Republican about Freedom, when they defund public libraries, a concept started in US by Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, so that common citizens could better themselves.”

Journalist Roland Martin, a Texas native and author of four books including “White Fear: How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds,” served up an even more passionate response.

“I keep telling y’all the @GOP is simply STUPID. How in the hell do you defund all of the public libraries in a state? These are truly illiterate assholes,” he tweeted.

Award winning novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, literary critic, professor, and editor Joyce Carol Oates declared defunding libraries and diversity initiatives, childcare, and pre-kindergarten programs, “sad but not surprising.”

“Republicans seem bent upon destroying the commonweal like public libraries,” she said on Twitter, adding: “their goal appears to be privatizing everything as in a feudal society in which serfs are subhuman, mere labor.”

Former Missouri Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill offered a multiple choice tweet:

“A primer on Mo GOP: A) outlawed all abortions from moment of conception for rape victims B) voted to allow children to openly carry AR-15s C) defunded public libraries

D) All of the above. Ding ding ding (right answer)”

See the video and tweet above or at this link.

[batboyblog]

funding of libraries is in the Missouri state constitution, not that the Republicans care. They're trying to punish the librarians for suing over a poorly thought out censorship law that they pushed through to ban books (of course)

The Missouri House debated for over eight hours last Tuesday on a budget that is roughly $2 billion less than the one Gov. Mike Parson (R) proposed last January, cutting not only the $4.5 million Parson had slated for libraries, but also costs for diversity initiatives, childcare and pre-kindergarten programs.

because we don't want to be funding pre-K right?

any ways please make sure to donate to the ACLU of Missouri, the Missouri Library Association and/or the Missouri Democratic Party

#Republicans #banning books #book ban #Missouri #Library

[inconveniently-discorporated]

Are you an American adult, unhappy with what's going on, and determined to vote about it this November?

Yes? That's awesome! You absolutely should vote in every election -- and there's more you can do, on top of that.

I've decided this year to really try and ward off the apathy that's common with my age group and younger. It's part of fighting for my rights - I'm not staying quiet while people around me apathetically let racist and mysoginistic extremists take over. Here's some ideas I've had:

Try the "yes, and" approach. I'm sure we all know people who will post about things on social media, but then stay home on election day. It's really frustrating, I will agree wholeheartedly with that. What I've tried to do is approach it from the assumption of care, and provide resources for them to get further involved: "Hey, I see you're passionate about this -- that's great, and there are some things you can do to help change this! Keep talking about it and raising awareness, please let me know if I can help you in any way."

Be curious about why people aren't voting or registered to vote. I've found some of it is due to myths (they don't want to get thrown in the pool for jury duty, not realizing some places pull from license databases too). Sometimes people think it's harder than it is (in my state, it takes just a few minutes online with information you have in your wallet). Some people are disenfranchised by accessibility issues (whether this is physical, mental, situational, or systemic), but would register or vote if they had someone to encourage, guide, or even provide material support (like offering a ride or childcare). Others just don't see the point, which brings me to my next one...

Show the tangible benefits. My state passed a significant paid parental leave program, which allowed my husband and I to take ours consecutively and stay home for eight months once all was said and done. I try to find city programs people benefit from. If I come across exciting initiatives our citizens or legislators are trying to pass, I share those too. If there's anything you know someone supports, and you find a candidate who supports these things, let them know.

Show the tangible risks. I once thought that there wasn't too much to worry about - I'm in a blue state in what I thought was a fairly blue city. Turns out, my city is actually pretty freaking purple. Not only that, but the local (official) GOP establishment is actively cheering defunding our city libraries because they are "liberal brainwashing facilities". Two Republicans on my LOCAL COUNTY COUNCIL were trying to dissolve the health department partnership at the height of the pandemic when people were DYING. Every one of my friends was shocked to find this out, especially when I had screenshots and videos where these people said these things with their own words. People like this are everywhere and they can and they WILL fight to take away your rights if you don't ACTIVELY stand up and defend them. Make this loud and clear.

Engage your social circle. I am fortunate that we have mail-in voting by default that is so easy, you don't even need a stamp to mail it in. All you have to do is fill it out and return it to any drop box or secure mailbox. I'm having a pizza party, and voting is the price of admission. Show that you voted already, or bring your ballot and I've got fun pens for you to fill it out with! When we're done, they go straight in the mail, and then we party and play games.

The biggest thing I've found is that people are tired and feel hopeless. There's a lot of news to keep track of all the time, and it's easy to become complacent. It's easy to forget things if you don't know what the stakes are. Sometimes all people need is a friend to encourage and help them, and it's something you can do to amplify your voice and empower others.

If you have it within you at all, I encourage you not to just vote. Vote, and help the people around you vote too.

There is some really scary shit going on out there, I cannot state this emphatically enough. People in positions of power are trying to erase the atrocities that have happened in our past, and prevent people from learning about it -- why would they want to do that? What motives would someone have to make slavery sound more palatable, to make Nazis sound more sympathetic? There's a reason, and it isn't a good one.

I refuse to accept there is nothing we can do. People are trying to make it that way and make it feel that way, but I'm not accepting that, so I've made it my mission to meet people where they're at so they are empowered to stand with me.

#American politics #get out and vote #you have a voice #use your voice #and if you can help other people use theirs then do it #offer that hand to someone #yes and #i am a huge fan of the yes and approach #encourage good stuff and empower more action #please feel free to share #stand with each other

[tearsinthemist]