Latest news with #BreeTaylor
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio library systems, advocates push back on House provision to hide certain materials
A book display in a California library. () As Ohioans pleaded for more support for the state's public libraries, there was also outcry against a provision that library staff and supporters say would add more work and unnecessary regulations to the local institutions. The Ohio House added a provision to their budget draft that was not in the governor's executive proposal, one that would require public libraries to place 'material related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in a portion of the library that is not primarily open to the view of minors.' As budget plans move through the Ohio Senate, state residents asked the chamber to push back on the House's proposal and eliminate the provision in their own draft. Librarians who spoke at the Senate Education Committee last week noted the vague language of the provision, and tried to give legislators an idea of the heavy lift this might mean for libraries. Library visitors and advocates criticized the provision as targeted toward LGBTQ+ content, such as transgender issues. 'Books are an outlet, an escape,' said Bree Taylor, founder and executive director of the non-profit transgender advocacy groups Trans Unity Coalition. 'A children's book isn't going to turn a kid gay or trans, but it will bring comfort to a kid who already is.' Toledo resident Erin Prestwich said the idea of separating out the content speaks not only to keeping children from accessing content some may find objectionable because of its connection to LGBTQ+ issues, but to simply keeping children from seeing perspectives that match their own. 'I 'acted like a boy' as a child, like climbing trees, playing with trucks in the dirt,' Prestwich wrote to the committee. 'I am not transgender, and never thought that I was, but I did enjoy reading books as a child (with characters) who did things that I wanted to do. That is normal. It is important for children to read about characters that are like them.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The libraries themselves spoke to the already existing ways in which parents can control a child's access to certain materials. Library systems have collections and purchasing policies that come with opportunities for public feedback and input, and many libraries have tiered library cards based on the amount of access a parent wants a child to have. 'While libraries do provide access to information, we do not act 'in loco parentis,'' said Jay Smith, director of government and legal services for the Ohio Library Council. 'We do not act in the place of the parent or guardian. Parents and guardians play a vital role in determining what their children are reading and have a right to determine what is best for their child.' Amelia Green, who identified herself as a married transgender woman who plans to raise children in Ohio, agreed that parents should be the deciding factor in what children have access to, not state leaders. 'This provision is not just misguided – it is a violation of parental rights,' Green told the committee. 'As a future parent, it should be my right – not the government's – to decide how and when I introduce my children to stories about people like their parents, their friends and potentially themselves.' Green also said the language contained in the state budget proposal would mean taking her children past 'actual adult material' just to find 'a simple picture book about a kid with two moms, or a young adult novel with a trans protagonist.' 'That's absurd,' she said. 'Queer stories are not adult content – they are human content.' As libraries face an uncertain financial future while they wait for the state to decide whether or not to fund the Public Library Fund, the provision to separate out certain content could come with its own financial load. The House budget draft noted 'potential costs' for identifying and relocating the 'restricted materials.' With no additional funds added alongside the proposed changes, library staff said moving books based on their content would be extremely costly in some cases and in other cases nearly impossible, based on the limited space in branch libraries. Paula Brehm-Heeger, director of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, said she recently visited one of the smaller libraries in her system, and could see the entire library as soon as she entered it. Even if separating the materials is possible, the cost at the southwestern Ohio library system would 'likely be upwards of $1 million per year, adjusting for inflation and current library procedures,' according to Brehm-Heeger. Having the provision in place with the vague language as it stands would lead to 'inconsistent and arbitrary enforcement across Ohio,' Lauren Hagan, CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, told the committee. Her team could only make an 'educated guess' at the financial impact such a policy would have. 'We anticipate the initial cost for compliance at $3.14 million, with continuing costs of approximately $1.7 million every year,' Hagan said. The Senate is still working on their budget draft, expected to be released in the coming weeks, with a deadline for a final draft combining the House and Senate priorities due by the end of June. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Transgender group urges Ohio lawmakers to reject ‘anti-trans' budget measures
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A nationwide transgender advocacy group is convening at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to reject 'anti-trans' provisions in the state's budget proposal. The Trans Unity Coalition, a Michigan-based organization, is lobbying legislators on Wednesday against measures in House Bill 96, an expansive proposal passed by the Ohio House in April outlining the state's next two-year budget. Bree Taylor, executive director of the coalition, argues the legislation sneaks in several pieces that are harmful to the LGBTQ+ community. Taylor pointed to provisions in H.B. 96 that would bar funding to mental health facilities and youth homeless shelters 'that promote or affirm social gender transition.' Watch a previous NBC4 report on the budget proposal in the video player above. Ohio Supreme Court reinstates law banning trans healthcare for minors 'Those are unhoused children who many times statistically are more likely to be queer themselves, so to deprive shelters of funding because they are seen as supporting kids who are already going through a transitional process, to me that's just despicable,' said Taylor. 'I don't know how anyone with a conscious could say that is something that is appropriate.' Another is a policy recognizing two sexes, male and female, which states 'these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.' Taylor noted the policy, which is modeled after a Trump administration order, could violate the Ohio Constitution's single-subject rule given it doesn't pertain to funding. House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) argued in early April that it's admissible for the fiscal document to include a sex provision given 'it's accepted science that there are two genders.' Huffman said, 'This simply ends the discussion in the state of Ohio which I think most voters, most citizens of Ohio agree with, and it also prevents us from having months and months and weeks of arguments if we do it in a bill or otherwise.' H.B. 96 would also require public libraries to place material 'related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in a portion of the public library that is not primarily open to the view of the persons under the age of 18.' Taylor argued the measure could ostracize LGBTQ+ youth. U.S. Supreme Court likely to side with Ohio group on student opt-outs for LGBTQ+ lessons Another provision would prohibit state agencies from displaying any flag, like a Pride flag or other political symbols, except for Ohio, U.S. and POW/MIA flags. While Taylor argued the measure could make marginalized communities feel unwelcome, Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said in early April the flag rule removes 'some of this divisiveness out of our discourse.' 'Whether it's a conservative-coded flag or a liberal-coded flag, let's just go back to our public buildings [being] for everybody,' Stewart said. 'The flags that fly outside should be symbols that are broadly accepted by everybody rather than sort of inserting government into these more divisive ideas.' Taylor said the coalition is planning to meet with various lawmakers on Wednesday to raise their concerns. While she doesn't have faith that legislators will remove these provisions, Taylor is hoping the coalition's efforts will create awareness and persuade Gov. Mike DeWine to line item veto these measures. 'Some of these provisions quite literally do not impact the state expenditure in any manner whatsoever,' Taylor said. 'These are provisions that are in bad faith, purely being snuck in because legislators know that having this massive bill that pertains to money and state funding, they really just want to get that through.' H.B. 95 is currently under consideration in several Ohio Senate committees. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
