KC-area library’s ‘Trans 101’ program sparks complaints. Are transgender people welcome?

When the Mid-Continent Public Library scheduled a program called “Trans 101,” the aim was to educate, provide information about transgender issues and answer questions from community members.

Sadly, and somewhat predictably, the effort to launch an honest, inclusive conversation aimed at an adult audience prompted hostile, misinformed complaints — including some from members of Mid-Continent’s board of trustees who questioned whether libraries should be leading such a discussion.

Libraries serve everyone, regardless of their origin, age, background, views or gender identity. As central gathering places open to everyone in the community, they are precisely the right location for these types of conversations.

Riley Long, a transgender man, has presented the “Trans 101” forums at library branches in Lee’s Summit, Buckner and Blue Springs, fielding questions and discussing issues facing members of the LGBTQ community.

“We’re all people,” Long said. “We’re everywhere in the world. We just want to be treated like everyone else.”

Library staff scheduled the events after learning that young transgender people were being ostracized in eastern Jackson County.

“The program was developed in response to requests from community members who felt the information would be helpful for themselves and their families, especially in light of challenges faced by the local LGBTQ community,” Library Director and CEO Steve Potter wrote in an update on Mid-Continent’s website.

But Long’s appearances have sparked opposition — and offensive comments — from two library trustees and some others in the community. Potter noted in his post that much of the response has come from those who did not actually attend the program.

In a recent letter to the Platte County Landmark newspaper, trustee Rita Wiese argued that the library is no place for transgender programming, even suggesting that such conversations lead to the sexual exploitation of children.

“A once safe community setting known as the public library has become a space that, in the guise of intellectual freedom, wants to change thinking on voyeurism and gender confusion, while promoting materials and programs that lead children toward being sexually exploited,” Wiese wrote.

She did not reply to messages from The Star seeking comment. But Wiese’s wrong-headed, inflammatory words speak for themselves. And they are in conflict with the library’s stated mission of inclusiveness.

At last week’s board of trustees meeting, about a dozen people spoke out both in favor of and against transgender-focused initiatives at the library.

LGBTQ advocate Inoru Wade of Gladstone and other witnesses said that trustee Yummy Pandolfi asked the board: What else are we going to provide? How to be a criminal? How to make a bomb?

Pandolfi said her words were taken out of context and that she did not ask those questions in succession.

“I was asking what are the criteria for choosing library content,” she said. “Is it simply based on a majority … or are there other criteria? I used the above examples to illustrate that these decisions are not solely based on majority opinion.”

It should go without saying that there’s no acceptable context for comparing “Trans 101” to “How to be a criminal.”

Wiese expressed concerns that small children were being perverted by programs such as “Trans 101,” Wade said. And she asked if the board would allow a program on de-transitioning, the reversal of a transgender identification.

Pandolfi and Wiese are just two of the library’s 12 trustees. The county commissions in Clay and Platte counties and the Jackson County Executive appoint four members each on an annual basis. Pandolfi and Wiese represent Platte County.

Trustees Steve Roling of Jackson County and Ronald Thiewes of Clay County spoke in favor of diverse programming, Wade said.

Michelle Wycoff, president of the board of trustees, said Pandolfi and Wiese do not speak for the board.

“The library is a place that is welcoming to everyone,” she said.

It should be. And discriminatory, exclusionary rhetoric from two trustees violates the library’s own standards.

Mid-Continent Public Library is a partner of the National Safe Place initiative, an outreach program for young people in need of immediate help and safety. Library facilities are considered safe locations for the public.

Offering inclusive and equitable programming is part of Mid-Continent’s mission. If trustees can’t support that objective, they should reconsider their service on the library board.

“The commentary from board members … is extremely alarming and harmful,” said Crayola Bolger, a Mid-Continent librarian. She spoke at the meeting as a private citizen. “It is hostile and unwelcoming. It is, in fact, the opposite of everything a library should be: welcoming, safe, open to all, and above all, providing access to all information, not just what gatekeepers deem tasteful.”

Those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning their own sexuality still face bullying, harassment, violence and discrimination with alarming frequency. The library, which has long been a leading convener in the community, has an important opportunity to help foster understanding and promote inclusion.

It’s a shame that some members of the Mid-Continent Public Library’s board of trustees appear to have made it their mission to divide and exclude.