Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Christian Kirk Cameron denied story-hour slot by 50 public libraries for his new faith-based kids book.
According to a Fox News Digital report published early Wednesday morning, Cameron’s team reached out to dozens of public libraries in the hopes that some would be willing to host an event for his latest book, “As We Grow” — but at the time of publication, not a single one had returned a “yes.”
Among those rejecting Cameron’s event was Rochambeau Public Library in Providence, Rhode Island — a library that hosts a recurring program for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are aged 12 or older called “Queer Umbrella.”
Queer Umbrella is billed as a “club and safe space where teens can learn, discuss and connect over queer history, art, community resources, and more.”
“No, we will pass on having you run a program in our space,” the library said, adding, “We are a very queer-friendly library. Our messaging does not align … You can fill out the form to reserve space, to run the program in our space — but we won’t run your program.”
Brave Books also reached out to City Heights/Weingart Branch Library in San Diego — another library that regularly hosts LGBTQ+ events — and received a similar response.
“I don’t think that’s something that we would do,” someone from the library explained. “Because of how diverse our community is, I don’t know how many people you would get.”
After receiving dozens of similar responses, Cameron observed, “This is proof that more than ever, we are getting destroyed in the battle for the hearts and minds of our children … Publicly funded libraries are green-lighting ‘gender marker and name change clinics’ while denying a story time that would involve the reading of a book that teaches biblical wisdom. How much more clear can it get? We have to start fighting back, or we will lose our kids and this country.”
A number of people on Twitter made the same assessment that Cameron had.
“The day has officially come where drag queen book stories are encouraged but Kirk Cameron and his Christian books are banned …” Graham Allen tweeted.
With a new children’s book out that celebrates family, faith and biblical wisdom, actor-writer-producer Kirk Cameron cannot reach scores of American children or their families in many U.S. cities via the public library system because over 50 public libraries have either outright rejected him or not responded to requests on his behalf.
A story-hour program for kids and parents connected to new book releases is an activity that many libraries typically present to their patrons and communities.
Many of the same libraries that won’t give Cameron a slot, however, are actively offering “drag queen” story hours or similar programs for kids and young people, according to Cameron’s book publisher and according to a review of the libraries’ websites and current program listings.
Some library programs promote gender fluidity, inclusion and diversity. Others offer “name change” clinics for older teens and adults who want to alter their official paperwork for gender-identity reasons.
Brave Books, Cameron’s publisher, shared details of the story-hour requests — and the rejections received to date — with Fox News Digital exclusively this week.
The Rochambeau Public Library in Providence, Rhode Island, for instance, told Cameron and his book publisher by phone, “No, we will pass on having you run a program in our space.”
“We are a very queer-friendly library. Our messaging does not align,” the library worker also told Brave Books.
When the publisher asked the library official about filling out the proper form to apply for a story-hour slot, the individual replied, “You can fill out the form to reserve space, to run the program in our space — but we won’t run your program.” It’s “open to all members of the LGBTQ+ community who are 12+,” the library’s website listing also notes.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Rochambeau Public Library. An official first responded, “No comment,” then added that the media query would be passed along to a supervisor. Yet the same San Diego Library system actively hosts a number of “LGBTQIA events” that go beyond Pride Month, it notes on its website.
The library system “collaborates” with other organizations to provide resources. It also hosts a teen queer book club, its website says.
“Telling our stories, highlighting the rich diversity … Those themes that are so important of love, acceptance and inclusion and seeing yourself represented in the books that are reading,” a library official said, according to the library’s website.
The San Lorenzo Library, however, hosted a “get free help” clinic this month with Bay Area Legal Aid attorneys and volunteers for those interested in “completing name and gender marker change court paperwork and updating identity documents such as CA birth certificates, driver’s licenses/ IDs, passports and Social Security cards,” the library notes on its website.
The event, as the library writes on its site, “is part of our ‘Every Month Is Pride Month Series.’”
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