The “pride” movement seems to be losing steam as support for policies that protect women’s sports and ban genital mutilation of children continues to grow. SCOTUS recently upheld a state law forbidding child transgender interventions and will soon decide on whether parents can opt children out “LGBTQ-inclusive” school books.
Trump even made it clear in a January executive order that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology” and should “take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology.”
Despite this, the ideology is still readily stocked on the federally funded library shelves as kids spend more time at the library this summer.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress primarily receives federal funding, with some private donations.
In the hallway to the children’s section, a poster promoting the “Women, Gender, LGBTQ+ Studies Collection Specialist” is displayed on the wall. The gender “specialist” wants to “inspire learners and creators of all ages”.
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
When I visited the kids’ section at the Library of Congress earlier this month, books about the history of LGBT, gay riots, “pride” parades, and trans ideology were on the shelves.
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
One of the books is If You’re A Kid Like Gavin, a “true story of a young trans activist” that follows a girl named “Gavin” who tells kids ages 4 to 8 that they know themselves better than anyone else, especially when it comes to identifying as transgender. Gavin tells her mom, “I know you thought I was a girl, but I’m actually a boy.”
The book frames parents and teachers as adults who don’t understand the complexities of kids wanting to trans-identify and use the opposite-sex bathroom. Gavin tells kids to deny their parents’ wisdom, choose for themselves, and go on the news if their school doesn’t let them use the opposite-sex bathroom in the name of activism.
After Gavin’s principal said she could use the boys’ bathroom, Gavin received criticism from her “gossiping” teachers, who said that she “shouldn’t even be at school at all.”
“But he still had a choice,” the book says. “He could have used the girls’ bathroom, which didn’t feel right. Or he could have used the bathroom his school put into a closet, one that no other kid was forced to use. And he could have chosen to stay quiet.”
Instead of using the girls’ bathroom, Gavin decides to take her story to the media: “He went on the news in his town, and then he was on the news everywhere, sharing his story, refusing to be silenced.” The book ends by calling 4-to-8-year-olds to “fight” for people who want to use “something as basic as using the bathroom.”
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
D.C. Public Library
The D.C. Public Library also receives federal funding.
In the Woodridge location, a “pride mural” was on display in the kids section, asking children, “What does pride mean to you?” during the week of WorldPride in D.C. It is no longer being displayed at the time of this article’s publication.
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
The library currently has a “happy pride month” display on the wall with young adult LGBT chapter books like Trans+: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You, teaching 14-to-18-year-olds about “sex and pleasure” and “transitioning medically” while asserting that “gender … is made up.”
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
Within the kids’ book sections, the library has books teaching children about gender ideology and LGBT activism. Love Is Powerful is a book that teaches children ages 5 to 8 that the whole world needs to hear their message, and the way to do that is by becoming a protester.
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
It follows a young girl making signs to protest with her mom. The book is a “reminder” to kids about what they “can do to promote change and equality at a time when our country is divided by politics, race, gender, and religion,” the Amazon description says.
The idea of “love” that the author presents to kids is a big march in the streets featuring signs with slogans. The book teaches children that protesting is the way to spread love.
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
The D.C. Library also has My Rainbow, a book that follows “Trinity,” “a Black transgender girl on the autism spectrum,” getting a rainbow wig because he wants to be a girl. “She needs it to express who she truly is,” the Amazon description says.
The book purportedly shows kids from 4 to 8 that “people don’t care if cisgender girls like you [Trinity’s mom] have short hair. But it’s different for transgender girls.” The mother agrees, saying, “It’s different for me.” So Trinity’s septum-pierced mom buys him a rainbow wig so he can feel more like a girl.
Image CreditAbigail Nichols / The Federalist
These books are all currently available at D.C. Public Libraries along with many other LGBT books like Rainbow: A First Book of Pride for kids ages 1 to 5, Pride Puppy! for kids ages 3 to 5, Twas the Night Before Pride for kids ages 4 to 8, and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets for 10-year-olds.
The Federalist asked the Library of Congress how its books and poster promoting “LGBTQ+” and “gender” ideology follow Trump’s executive order that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology” and how they are taking “all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology,” as the executive order directs.
The Federalist also asked the Woodridge branch of the D.C. Public Library how its “pride” displays follow the executive order.
Neither library responded to a request for comment.
Abigail Nichols is a correspondent for The Federalist. She was previously the opinion editor for the University of South Florida’s student newspaper, The Oracle. She is now working as the business manager at the University of North Florida’s student-run media outlet, Spinnaker Media, while obtaining a Master’s Degree in Social work.
