LGBT library displays back on front burner

By John Labriola -

The LGBT agenda will be front and center once more this week as the Citrus County Commission decides whether to end lifetime appointments for members of the Library Advisory Board, the liberal-dominated body behind the annual monthlong LGBT propaganda displays targeting children in the county's public libraries.

Commissioners will be sitting in their capacity as the governing board for the county's library system, which includes all five commissioners plus Inverness City Councilman Dave Ryan and Crystal River City Councilman Ken Brown. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 8 at 1 p.m. at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N. Apopka Ave., Inverness FL 34450.

It will be the second showdown over the county's library system so far this year. On Jan. 4, a standing-room-only crowd packed the commission chamber to demand an end to taxpayer-funded LGBT ideological displays in the libraries during the month of June in celebration of "Gay Pride Month." But commissioners that day narrowly rejected a motion by Chairman Ron Kitchen to cancel the displays after Commissioner Holly Davis insisted that such a decision should be left up to the Library Advisory Board. Davis added that citizens who were unhappy with the displays could simply apply to join that board. It was only after several conservative residents tried to do so that County Attorney Denise Lyn declared that no new applications could be considered at this time because Library Advisory Board members serve for life, which prompted Chairman Kitchen and Commissioner Scott Carnahan to call for a meeting to "clean up" the process. 

It remains to be seen whether Commissioner Davis and Councilmen Ryan and Brown will show up to participate at this Tuesday's meeting. During the Jan. 4 county commission meeting, Commissioner Carnahan revealed that one of his commission colleagues may have violated Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law by privately communicating with Councilmen Ryan and Brown about library policy, adding he would bring up the issue at the next meeting of the library governing board.  

The state's Sunshine Law prohibits members of the same board from privately discussing matters which could foreseeably come before that board for action. 

Public records requests by the Citrus Crusader have revealed that it was Commissioner Davis who repeatedly communicated by phone with both Ryan and Brown in the days and hours before and after the Jan. 4 meeting, despite the fact that all three serve on the same governing board for the libraries. Hours after the commission's vote, Ryan even sent Davis an Instant Message celebrating the decision not to cancel the LGBT propaganda displays, writing: “I understand there was a vote, and it was to keep it as is. Good.” 

The two also exchanged messages bashing one of the current applicants for the Library Advisory Board, which may legally require them to recuse themselves from any decisions regarding the appointment process for the Library Advisory Board, including deciding whether to end lifetime terms for current members and voting on new appointments.

In addition to presenting commissioners with a formal complaint about this Sunshine Law violation on Feb. 22, the Citrus Crusader also has filed the complaint with the State Attorney's Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida. 

Please email Commissioner Holly Davis and Councilmen Dave Ryan and Ken Brown and ask them to do the right thing by recusing themselves from this Tuesday's discussion and any subsequent decisions regarding county library policy pending the state attorney's investigation. Their emails are below: 


Also be sure to show up at Tuesday's meeting to urge commissioners to end lifetime terms for Library Advisory Board members. It's time to appoint common-sense conservative citizens who will not use their positions to push LGBT ideology, but who will respect our community's values and defend the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit.

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