Lou Anne Mauldin and Carol Hafer, librarians for Broadway Baptist Church, remember feeling shocked to learn that a book they ordered for the church had a previous life at a Massachusetts high school.
The book, 鈥溾�� by Robert Rodi, is part of the author鈥檚 鈥淟iving Proud! Growing Up LGBTQ Series.鈥� It how the LGBTQ+ community is viewed by different religions around the world. When the book arrived, Mauldin and Hafer found a blank library checkout sheet inside, with red ink scribbled over the bar codes and two red stampings of the word 鈥渨ithdrawn鈥� on the first page.
Books with LGBTQ+ themes made up over half of the most challenged titles in schools across the country in 2022, according to the . The Fort Worth Independent School District pulled about for review in the 2023-2024 school year. A review of the books is underway to determine if they are developmentally appropriate for students in answer to a that requires school districts to remove sexually explicit books from libraries. Books with sexual references that remain in the library require parental consent before a student can check it out.
In February, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth added 鈥溾�� and other LGBTQ+ themed books to its shelves. The initiative was led by the church鈥檚 LGBTQ+ Hospitality & Advocacy group and librarians as a way to educate its members by providing broader reading material.
Broadway Baptist stance on LGBTQ faithful
Broadway Baptist Church has been located in the Near South Side for over 140 years. In 2009, the church was over its perceived tolerance of LGBTQ members. Broadway Baptist Church in 2010 over its stance on LGBTQ people of faith, according to .
As for the original library home of Rodi鈥檚 book, Hafer said, 鈥淭hey may just have decided it was too young for their high school campus. They may have decided that it wasn鈥檛 the direction they wanted to go. There鈥檚 no way to know the story behind it. But it is an example of what has happened to our libraries in recent months.鈥�
What materials are considered 鈥渟exually relevant鈥� and 鈥渟exually explicit鈥�?
- 鈥淪exually relevant material鈥� refers to a written description, photo, video or audio that describes or portrays sexual conduct.
- 鈥淪exually explicit material鈥� refers to a written description, image, video or audio that describes or portrays sexual conduct in a patently offensive way. 鈥淧atently offensive鈥� is a term used in U.S. law regarding obscenity under the First Amendment.
- In both instances, state law excludes materials directly related to the required curriculum.
The church鈥檚 new library additions include 52 books centered around religion and LGBTQ+ themes. Some titles include 鈥溾�� by Brandan J. Robertson and devotional books such as 鈥�.鈥�
Both Mauldin and Hafer come to Broadway Baptist as former public school librarians. The church decided to start with a mix of nonfiction, memoirs, children鈥檚 books and devotionals as a way for LGBTQ+ church members to have titles to relate to and to educate church members who aren鈥檛, Mauldin said.
鈥淲e look for books, and we read the reviews,鈥� Maludin said. 鈥淲e want to get books that are appropriate for certain ages.鈥�
Scott Green is a member of Broadway Baptist and one of the founding members of the church鈥檚 LGBTQ+ Hospitality & Advocacy group. Looking ahead, Green hopes that the new book additions will pave the way for the church to have studies focused on LGBTQ+ spirituality topics and informational lectures during Pride month.
鈥淏roadway, over the years, has taken some very extraordinarily bold steps to embrace the LGBTQ community and to send a very clear message that being gay and being Christians are not mutually exclusive,鈥� Green said.
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or .At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
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