Library Cancels Kirk Cameron's Faith-Based Event, Scrambles to Reverse Course After Realizing What Would Happen Next
A dispute between a public library and a conservative actor has ended in a victory for the conservative actor.
According to the religious freedom nonprofit First Liberty, the Madison Public Library in Huntsville, Alabama, had been scheduled to host an event featuring actor Kirk Cameron and publisher Brve Books for a “See You at the Library” event which was intended to promote free speech in libraries and schools.
However, the library later canceled the event citing “security concerns” and “concerns over capacity,” so First Liberty decided to send them a letter threatening legal action if the event was not rescheduled.
“We’re asking the library to confirm that ‘Brave Books and Mr. Cameron may utilize the Madison Public Library to host the ‘See You at the Library’ event on Saturday, August 5, 2023,'” the statement from First Liberty said.
On Friday, Fox News then reported that after receiving the letter, the Madison Public Library reversed course and agreed to host Cameron, the Brave Books team, and conservative activist Riley Gaines.
The library said in a statement, “The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library has agreed with event coordinators, Moms for Liberty, to accommodate their planned meeting on Saturday, August 5, 2023, at the Madison Library with a limit of 225 attendees.”
Lawyers for First Liberty have reacted to the news with jubilation.
“We are thrilled that Brave Books, Kirk and Riley will be able to host the book reading tomorrow as was previously scheduled,” said Ryan Gardner, counsel for First Liberty.
“Our nation’s libraries are an important part of their communities and should be welcoming to messages of hope and encouragement like that of Kirk and Riley.”
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This is a great win for the rights of conservatives and for the First Amendment.
However, it is still very sobering to consider the fact that it increasingly seems as if conservatives need legal help to be able to speak freely and host events in public spaces.
In this case, the library cited security and capacity concerns, but that argument instantly falls apart considering how ready they were to accommodate the event once they were threatened with legal action.
Drag queens never seem to run into this problem when they try to get permission to read to children at public libraries, and often times those events are accompanied by protests from conservative activists.
So if they have the security and capacity for those events, why do they not have security and capacity for a conservative speaker?
It is absolutely horrifying that space is being given to drag queens to openly promote transgenderism to children, while conservative activists trying to host their own events are barred from doing so.
It really goes to show just where the loyalties of these libraries truly lie.
They are not interested in fostering an open exchange of ideas. Rather, they seem more interested in trying to preach leftist ideology to children.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
