A Tennessee library board voted 8-3 Monday to fire its director after she refused to move transgender-themed books from the children’s section to the adult section, triggering a meltdown among leftist activists who packed the meeting hall in force.
The Rutherford County Library Board in Murfreesboro, a suburb of Nashville, had directed director Luanne James to relocate books with transgender themes to the adult section of the library, where children could still access them with parental approval. James refused, citing the American Library Association’s guidelines on “intellectual freedom.”
“I stand by my decision. I will not change my mind,” James told the board before the vote.
The books at issue included The Gender Wheel, Who Are You: The Kids Guide to Gender Identity, and When Aidan Became a Brother, a picture book about a young girl who begins identifying as a boy.
After the vote, the crowd erupted. Footage from local news outlets showed the balcony of the meeting room filled with protesters in matching shirts chanting and yelling at board members who voted to remove James. The ACLU of Tennessee and the Rutherford County Library Alliance had organized the demonstration.
Board Chair Cody York said James’s refusal left the board no choice. “The Executive Director’s refusal to add a lawful directive of the Rutherford County Library Board constitutes insubordination,” York said in a statement ahead of the vote. “When a Director refuses to carry out a duly adopted Board decision, it undermines the governance of the institution and cannot be ignored.”
Rutherford County school board member Caleb Tidwell addressed the crowd during public comment. “The law was made to protect the most vulnerable, which is children. Follow the law,” Tidwell said. “Protect the children. Hold the line.”
James, in a statement after her firing, said she lost her job for defending “the rights of all community members to access books and information,” adding that she believes her termination amounts to “an unlawful act of viewpoint discrimination.” She said she is exploring legal options.
Advocates for relocating the books argued the move was necessary under Tennessee state law, which requires libraries to ensure age-appropriate materials are accessible in sections corresponding to their intended audience. The books were not being removed from the library or banned from checkout; they were to be placed in the adult section, available to parents or to minors with parental sign-off.
