The Seattle Public Library staff issued a public letter on Saturday directed at library leadership and calls for a protest and rally on November 17th at 6 p.m. at the Central Library Plaza. The letter notes that it is the third time in five years that SPL has hosted an anti-Queer group, which they see as a failure to prioritize the safety and well-being of Queer communities over fears of legal challenges.
Specifically, the letter condemns the Seattle Public Library's (SPL) decision to host a panel by Women's Declaration International USA (WDI USA). The group is known to be transphobic, spreading anti-Trans rhetoric and seeking to undermine Transgender rights. Trans and allied staff at the SPL expressed concern that hosting such events undermines the library's role as a safe, inclusive, and empowering space for Trans and Queer patrons and staff.
CALL TO ACTION
This letter invites the community to join a protest and rally on November 17th at 6 p.m. at the Central Library Plaza to oppose the WDI USA event. Likewise, they call upon concerned community members to voice their concerns at an upcoming Library Board of Trustees meeting on November 21st at noon (link on spl.org).
LETTER TEXT
[Editor's Note: A Trans Pride flag indicates a Trans staff member.]
Dear trans siblings, splendid gender outlaws, and queer pioneers,
On Sunday, November 17th a transphobic group named Women's Declaration International USA (WDI USA) will be in the Central Library auditorium to host an anti-trans panel discussion. This group of TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) views transgender people as a threat to women's rights, claims that "queer" is an "artificial class", and believes "transgender" is an incoherent notion that has no legitimate place in law or policy. They are actively working to remove our rights.
We are writing to you, our queer and trans community, as trans staff members at Seattle Public Library who are horrified by the way our library system and our government continues to handle hate groups. There are moments of our job where we can walk into a room and be among a majority-sometimes even an entirely-gender queer staff. It's empowering and exhilarating, and a great privilege to be part of an institution where we can share this empowerment with the public through queer booklists, hosting queer authors, and queer-affirming programming. The library is doing its job when we inspire euphoria for our patrons and support not just their existence but their joy. Equally, it is empowering for us to be trans and visible in your libraries.
Hosting events like the WDI USA panel, however, is heartbreaking for us. When our employer accommodates and welcomes anti-queer groups who wish to silence and eliminate our community, we cannot ensure our spaces are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for trans staff and patrons. This is the third time in the last five years that an anti-queer group has been allowed to book space in our public library system with the intent to spread hate speech. This is the third time Seattle Public Library has bent the knee to transphobic hate groups and allowed the fear of litigation to dictate their actions and paralyze our institution. We are coming to you, our queer community, and asking you to rally with us to hold SPL and the City of Seattle accountable for their transphobic policies. As queer staff and allies, we do not support our employer in these actions and urge library and city leadership to move towards justice.
Join us at the Central Library plaza on Sunday, November 17th at 6 pm. We will be hosting a protest and rally to make it known that these hate groups are not welcome in our public, taxpayer funded spaces. Bring your queer joy, your loudest voice, your noise makers, and your trans flags. Stand with us as we resist conservative leadership that prioritizes the comfort of hate groups over queer staff, patrons, and community.
We hope library leadership chooses what is right over what is legal. We as union members will continue to organize within SPL to make change. For those who have the energy, please share your anger at the upcoming Library Board of Trustees meeting, being held online at noon Thursday, November 21st (link on spl.org). These folks, appointed by the city government, have the ultimate say over library policy. Let them know what you think!
To our trans siblings, we, the undersigned workers of SPL, do not condone the actions of our employer. We reach out to you in solidarity to move towards a different future. We hope to see you on Sunday.
In solidarity and love,
🏳️⚧️Hot trans anger
🏳️⚧️Jackie S.
🏳️⚧️A disappointed nonbinary staff member
🏳️⚧️Reference Cat
🏳️⚧️Marm Liu
🏳️⚧️Genevieve
🏳️⚧️Genderqueer and still here
🏳️⚧️It's giving Queer Rage
🏳️⚧️Fighting for Trans Futures
🏳️⚧️hope is a verb. fight is a verb.
🏳️⚧️jane doherty
🏳️⚧️Very very tired
🏳️⚧️Intellectual freedom is not moral freedom.
🏳️⚧️An enby on a pale horse
🏳️⚧️nonbinary and tired
🏳️⚧️JC
🏳️⚧️Caring and Sharing
🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏞️
🏳️⚧️A LezBrarian
🏳️⚧️keep on loving, keep on fighting
🏳️⚧️Hilary M
🏳️⚧️Lorne Mccovey
🏳️⚧️Seeking Trans Joy
🏳️⚧️t4t4liberation
Ally
Bubba Gump
BookMarx
Fat and Furious, #BWithTheT
Luna Azul
The T Shouldn't Stand Alone
Livid Librarian
livid librarian for (legitimate) liberty
Cheese Lee
Erin
JJ
Vee
Always An Ally
Libraries are not neutral
pure rage
Kitkat88
SolidariT
Fighting mad
Luke
Radical INclusionary Femenist
Ally Love-Support
Mad librarian
Mr. Houston Foursite
Skada Truce
Please stop platforming
Chosen fam
Trans rights!
AB
Library Associate IV Against Hate
agender and all here
Zero
Jonathan Betz-Zall
Gabriel Escobedo
Francis N stein