Montana Conservatives Are Stoking McCarthyist, Homophobic Attacks on a Librarian
Montana’s State Library Commission has exited the American Library Association over the sexuality and leftist politics of the association president, bringing together a toxic stew of hysterical homophobia and classic red-baiting to attack public libraries.
Joseph McCarthy, Republican senator from Wisconsin, testifies against the US Army during the Army-McCarthy hearings, Washington, DC, June 9, 1954. (Getty Images)
McCarthyism is on the march in the United States of America circa 2023. If you’re skeptical, look no further than Montana, where the State Library Commission just voted to withdraw from the American Library Association (ALA) due to the Marxist politics of the latter’s new president.
Last April, City University of New York critical pedagogy librarian Emily Drabinski was elected to the position on a platform of fighting for public reinvestment, a Green New Deal for libraries, and international collaboration — and almost immediately triggered a right-wing meltdown when, in the excitement of celebrating her victory, she publicly declared her political leanings and sexual orientation.
“I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary,” Drabinski wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “And my mom is SO PROUD I love you mom.”
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