The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) held a public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 21, to discuss a new rule proposal that would restrict minors from reading books with transgender themes and characters.

The new rule states that, if approved, “any material that promotes, encourages or positively depicts transgender procedures, gender ideology or the concept of more than two biological genders shall be considered inappropriate for children and youth.” The rule excludes books and materials on religion, history, biology and human anatomy.

The debate over the proposed new rule comes amid a continued battle over what content should be housed and where in Alabama’s libraries. For months, APLS has paused state funding for the Fairhope Public Library over its allegedly violation of state code regarding inappropriate and explicit material available to minors. Fourteen books were challenged, with many featuring LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Seven of the challenged books were relocated to the adult section following their review process, which ended in August.

In a war of words, dozens of people ranging from the coast to the north came to the public hearing in Montgomery to speak both in favor of and against the proposal.

Supporters argued the rule change would protect children from material they say is explicit and even dangerous.

“Children are impressionable, and when you put books in front of them all covered in sparkles and rainbows, painting gender transition as a brave, fun and noble thing to do, and not telling anything about the side effects, how do you think they’re going to respond?” said Tonia Stulting, speaking in favor of the proposal.

Tracy Gatewood, who ran for Place 3 seat on Fairhope City Council during the municipal elections in August, spoke at the hearing and called the proposed code change “common sense,” comparing teaching a child about gender identity to teaching them alcohol consumption.

“If someone hands a 10- or 12-year-old child a glass of scotch and insists they drink, we know the child’s reaction will be one of distaste and revulsion,” Gatewood said. “If the child is repeatedly asked to drink and over time acquires a taste for alcohol, even becoming intoxicated, we would all agree this would be disgusting, even abusive.”

Conversely, opponents of the code change argued the proposal is overreaching and would ostracize Alabama’s LGBTQ+ community.

“Trans people are not inappropriate,” said Mary Campbell, who has previously spoken in front of the state board. “They’re not inappropriate content just by existing. People who don’t conform to gender binaries are not explicit. Their existence is not harmful to children. Their stories should not be hidden away in a corner of the adult department. Their stories belong just like they do, and it’s not right to only tell one story, the story that they’re bad and harmful.”

“This is not accountability; this is punishment,” said Autumn Zelda, who also voiced her support for the Fairhope library. “Let’s be clear, libraries exist to serve everyone to reflect the broad and beautiful diversity of our communities. That includes families of all faiths, all backgrounds and, yes, all identities, including LGBTQ individuals.”

APLS Chairman John Wahl said public response to the proposed rule change has been “overwhelming,” saying the board has received 8,478 comments during the public comment period. He said of the comments received, 6,781 (79.98%) were in support of the proposed amendment while 1,697 (20.01%) were opposed.

Wahl said that while it is his job to listen to both sides of the issue that it is ultimately his goal “to put parents in charge.”

“From what I’ve heard on from both sides, there are several things I think we can agree on, and the most important one of those being that we want Alabama libraries to be welcoming places for people on both sides of this issue and of all backgrounds and all opinions,” Wahl said. “That’s my heart. It genuinely is.”

Wahl also said a tiered library card system separating library patrons by age “can be hard to implement” and that he wants to hear from libraries over the coming weeks before they vote on the proposed amendment. Fairhope is among the libraries in the state that have a tiered library card system, with parents having to approve their children's library card and choose whether to give them all-access or restricted.

Tensions flared when APLS board member Ron Snider, who has previously voiced his support for the Fairhope Public Library, criticized his peers, accusing them of being politically motivated.

“Let us no longer pretend that this board’s action, previously and under this proposal, is not imposing censorship on the library. That's what it’s doing,” Snider said. “It’s politically motivated. It is taking away control from local libraries who are appointed by local governing bodies, and we’re going down a path that is very unfortunate.”

Snider said that up until Oct. 13, there were no comments made “with respect to these proposals,” a date he said coincided with the Alabama Republican Party, which Wahl is also chairman of, sending out emails soliciting support, saying APLS received over 6,000 responses within two days of that email being sent out.

Wahl denied personally sending out any emails, saying there were multiple groups on both sides of the issue who submitted comments on the last day the organization accepted public comments, saying it was closer to around a 70% to 30% split of opinion before the final day they accepted comments.

As reported by AL.com, an email was sent out to members of the Alabama GOP detailing the proposed amendment and asked members for help in “Chairman Wahl’s ongoing efforts to protect Alabama’s children and ensure our public libraries remain age-appropriate areas.” The email reportedly also included instructions on how to submit a public comment to the APLS, including a link to a form letter.

A date was not found on the initial email, but a follow up email was sent out on Oct. 13 from Jeannie Burniston, who serves as the director of legislative affairs and communications for the state’s Republican Party. The deadline to submit comments to APLS was on Oct. 14.

APLS will review the public input it has received, with a vote on the amendment expected to occur during their next meeting, which is scheduled for Nov. 21. Wahl said a vote could be pushed back if the board determines they need more time to discuss the amendment, including final wording.

APLS could also finally decide on the future of funding towards the Fairhope Public Library during their Nov. 21 meeting, having previously delayed their decision on whether to restore funding so they can have more time to review the books that are being challenged locally.