Drag queens are welcome to frolic with children in public libraries, but freedom-loving parents are not. And that’s just fine with the folks who run the American Library Association.
A public library in Huntsville, Alabama canceled a story hour event featuring evangelical Christian Kirk Cameron due to “security concerns” and fears the event might draw a large crowd.
But Cameron told Todd Starnes that he suspects librarians did not want the children exposed to books about faith, love and virtue.
“Reading children’s books about faith, love, and virtue – really got me into trouble,” Cameron told Starnes. “I think if I had shown up in some high heels and fishnet stockings with a dress, pretending to be a woman, I might have had a more warm welcome.”
The library released a statement saying the event organizers failed to request the proper permits. Library officials also said there was no way to accommodate so many people inside the building.
However, Cameron is not buying that argument.
“What are they going to say next? Christians can’t show up at the grocery store. You can’t go to Walmart. I mean, come on,” Cameron said.
First Liberty Institute, a nationally-known legal firm, sent a letter asking the Madison Public Library to reschedule the story hour event
“We explain that canceling the event is religious viewpoint and content discrimination that violates the Constitution,” First Liberty said in a statement. “Our letter states: It may be just one event—just a story time at the local library by a Christian children’s book author—that you have cancelled. Large or small, such unbridled censorship impacts the freedom of speech upon which we all depend in this free society.”
Following, is a transcript of Todd’s interview with Kirk Cameron on “The Todd Starnes Show.” Listen to the full interview below and click here to join Todd’s private Facebook group for Christians and Conservatives.
TODD: [00:20:53] Welcome back, America. Good to have you with us here on the Todd Starnes Radio Show today. I want to go right to our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line, good friend of this program and a great American patriot, our good buddy, Kirk Cameron. Kirk, how are you doing today?
KIRK: [00:21:08] Hey, I’m doing great, Todd. Thanks so much. How are you doing, Kirk?
TODD: [00:21:12] I’m doing well. Until I found out that you got yourself kicked out of a public library. I mean, Kirk Cameron. Shame on you, sir. Wow.
KIRK: [00:21:22] No, it’s all. It’s. It’s reading. Reading children’s books about faith, love, and virtue.That really got me into trouble. I think if I had shown up in some high heels and fishnet stockings with a dress pretending to be a woman, I might have had a more warm welcome.
TODD: [00:21:39] It’s the lunch hour, Kirk. So let’s not upset people too terribly much with that visual. But yeah, I get it. It’s just so insane. And you and our friends over at Brave Books have been doing such an incredible job educating kids and publishing books for kids. And you were scheduled to be at an event there in the Huntsville, Alabama, area with another good friend of this show, Riley Gaines. And I want you to tell our listeners what happened.
KIRK: [00:22:08] Sure. Well, many of you may recall that I’ve been reading children’s books at public libraries about faith, hope, love, humility, and particularly during Pride Month. I want kids to understand humility is what we ought to be shooting for, not pride. And we are now having a nationwide event tomorrow morning called See You at the Library, where we have over 300 public libraries that have been adopted by parents, grandparents, state senators, governors, mayors, county commissioners, and kids that are going to be coming to read books of virtue in their public library. And I’m going to be going to three of those libraries in three different states all tomorrow. One of them is in Huntsville, Alabama, and they just canceled the event. Now, we’ve done 17-18 of these and we’ve had thousands of people show up at the libraries, and we’ve never had any problems with regard to capacity or security. All of those have been handled very decently and really well. And so for Huntsville to close this down just doesn’t make any sense to us at all. I think they just don’t want us there. And again, what’s to be afraid of? You have me and Riley Gaines wanting to talk to children about honoring their parents, about loving God, and about being thankful to be an American.
TODD: [00:23:29] And Kirk, again, you have been doing these, as you said, all over America. And I think it’s something incredibly wholesome. And clearly, a lot of parents are very interested in exposing their kids to these kinds of story times. I’m curious to know why the library. Did they give you any reason why they decided to cancel this?
KIRK: [00:23:52] Well, they’ve cited a couple of things. One was that that there’ll be more people coming than they can that they have capacity for. Well, that’s okay. I mean, literally, most of these library rooms can’t sit more than a few hundred people. Many of them are smaller than that. And we have thousands who shown up and they just they just wait in line. They just take turns after the book is done being read. And then one group leaves, the next group comes in and they’re happy singing songs like God Bless America as they wait in line outside the library or or in the lobby. Maybe they even start reading their own their own little storytime books to their kids while they wait. And as for security, we’ve made sure that everybody’s safe. Usually, local police are there to make sure the trash traffic is dealt with. If there’s any protesters like the drag queens with the big signs or the bullhorns, they’re watched by library security and everything is always turned out great. We welcome everyone. There’s no need for anybody to be concerned about these events. This is this is for families.
TODD: [00:24:58] Kirk We were able to do a little research on this particular library. And it’s our understanding that they have hosted these Drag Queen Story Times in the past and they’ve been celebrated, heavily promoted. What was your experience working in or your team’s experience working with this library?
KIRK: [00:25:18] Well, we have a wonderful lady who is part of a Moms for Liberty Group there in the Huntsville area who started this. And she just felt that as she watched the the spiritual temperature decline and the moral fabric of her community begin to unravel. She’s been praying God to send revival to the area. And then this event, see you at the library came across her radar screen. She felt this is my opportunity to do something to engage our community. It was an answered prayer. And so she set this up and and had 30 people respond and then 300 people respond. And then when Riley and I told her that we wanted to celebrate with her, all the great work that she’s been doing, suddenly the library cancels the event. Literally one day, two days before the event. And there are so many people who are so disappointed and so upset. And so we’ve sent a letter to the library and and asked them to please reconsider what they’re doing. It’s it’s it’s really doesn’t make any sense. The reasons that they cited are not not reasonable. And and we’re hoping that they change their mind by tomorrow morning.
TODD: [00:26:33] And Kirk, you guys did the right thing here. And our friends over at First Liberty Institute, they sent a letter to the executive director of the libraries and laid it all out. And. And I’m glad to see that you guys are going down this path because we just can no longer be silent. We have to stand up and we’ve got to fight for our rights as American citizens.
KIRK: [00:26:55] That’s right. What are they going to say next? Christians can’t show up at the grocery store. You can’t go to Walmart. I mean, come on. You’ve got more people down at the mall right now than will ever have at this story meeting. And sure, it’s a bigger building, But the point is, no one’s going to break any laws if there’s capacity limits. Everyone wants to abide by those things. These are the values we want to teach our kids. Law and order. We want to teach kids love of country. Respect your neighbor, love your enemies. Be humble and kind. That’s what this whole meeting is about. And Todd, what’s really crazy about this is that the American Library Association is run by their own director, who is a self-avowed Marxist. She’s happy about this and publicly saying it out loud. And while they’re supposed to be drawing people into the library to read, they’re blocking families from coming to libraries while at the same time proudly hosting Drag Queen story hours to subvert good, healthy values in children.
TODD: [00:28:02] It’s just unacceptable. And I am so excited that that you and your great partner over at Brave Books, you guys are launching this initiative. And again, folks, excuse me, this is tomorrow. See you at the Library. And if you would like information on a location, all you have to do is go to BraveBooks.US. And all of the information is is right there. Kirk, I know your time is limited. You’re a busy guy, and we just appreciate the great work that that you are doing for the nation and for American families.
KIRK: [00:28:37] Well, Todd, you’re one of my heroes. I appreciate what you are doing and have been doing for so long to champion the right kind of values and bring attention to things that we need to be thinking about. So I’m just excited that there is an army of compassion that is on their feet and are getting on the offense. Not just sitting home whining. They want to be out there on the streets at the libraries, willing.
Speaker 1 [00:29:03] Amen to that. Well, Kirk, good hearing from you. Safe travels out there.
Speaker 5 [00:29:09] Thanks, Todd.
