IT WASN'T A TYPICAL DAY-JULY 1, 2023, was the day Ordinance 23-0-22, better known as the "Decency Ordinance," was set to go into effect in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
It gave Police Chief Michael Bowen and City Manager Craig Tindall the power to penalize anyone, anywhere in public, for anything they deemed indecent. No two men should have this much power.
When questioned on what would qualify as indecent during public discussions before Murfreesboro City Council voted to pass the ordinance, the response was: I can tell you when I see it.
I believe that this was an absurd and dangerous attempt to criminalize being LGBTQ+ in our town, a discriminatory effort that coincided with a similar attempt to erase Murfreesboro's LGBTQ+ citizens and their stories at the Rutherford County Library System (RCLS).
Fortunately, with the bad came some good-a community ready to defend and protect everyone's rights to be themselves and be welcome.
Rutherford County Library Alliance (RCLA) Facebook group.
I became an active member and now serve as vice president. We started preparing to appear at the August 28 library board meeting where the board of directors would decide the fate of six books one library patron had challenged.
It was standing room only. What I witnessed that day was disturbing: Board members laughing as they were unable to correctly say "LGBTQ+, cherry-picking sentences from some of the targeted books, and taking them out of context.
They also showed a lack of understanding of how the Miller test works, the longstanding historic legal test for determining whether expression constitutes obscenity. They tried to gaslight, unconvincingly, that it was "just a coincidence that all the books were LGBTQ+."
This story is from the March 01 - 08, 2024 (Double Issue) edition of Newsweek Europe.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 01 - 08, 2024 (Double Issue) edition of Newsweek Europe.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Ray Romano
THE MAJOR THING ABOUT NETFLIX'S NO GOOD DEED THAT APPEALED TO Ray Romano was that it was unlike anything he'd done before.
Has J.K. Rowling Won the Culture War?
After years of backlash over trans issues, the Harry Potter author has received major business backing
'This Murder Is a Symbol of the Times'
Conservatives and liberals agree on the state of the health care industry following the killing of Brian Thompson
The Defense Industry's Fight With ESG
EUROPEAN DEFENSE COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY smaller businesses, are being blocked from investment they sorely need by sustainability rules, a senior NATO official and several industry figures have said.
Nothin' Lasts Forever
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour' ends its record-breaking run..
SPY IN THE SKY
CHINA FACES ACCUSATIONS of ESPIONAGE and WEAPONIZING OUTER SPACE as it BUILDS a NEW OBSERVATORY in CHILE critics say WILL BE USED for MILITARY PURPOSES
Margo Martindale
\"WHO KNEW THAT A BARREL OF MAPLE SYRUP IS WORTH MORE THAN A barrel of oil?\"
Malala Yousafzai
\"AFGHANISTAN IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE world where girls are banned from access to education and women are limited from work.\"
In the Eyes of the Law
Jude Law is unrecognizable as an FBI agent on the trail of aneo-Naziterrorist group in real-crime drama The Order
AMERICA'S Most Responsible Companies 2025
IN THE FACE OF ISSUES LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE and wage inequality, consumers care about the impact of the businesses they interact with and companies are responding.
