Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: Phelps Dunbar attorney Cal Wells took responsibility for first complaining about LGBTQ books in the Ridgeland Library.

"I was shocked. I saw ‘Love is Love’ … ‘Queer Christian Survival.’ ... All I saw was books that had one agenda."

From @NickJudin:mississippifreepress.org/20917/ridgelan…

Attorney Carl Wells said he wanted the librarians who erected the LGBTQ+ book display brought before a judge.

“I want those people in a courtroom under oath. Did you have an agenda?”
mississippifreepress.org/20917/ridgelan…

“I keep hearing the word diverse,” Wells ranted. “Where’s the book on Amelia Earhart? Where’s the book on Teddy Roosevelt?”

“In the biography section,” fired back a former librarian from the Ridgeland Public Library in the audience.
mississippifreepress.org/20917/ridgelan…

"The meeting was a culmination of controversy that went public after the Mississippi Free Press reported on Jan. 25 that McGee was withholding funding for the library following complaints about LGBTQ+ books."
mississippifreepress.org/20917/ridgelan…

Support non-profit, paywall-free journalism like this by following reporter @NickJudin, the Mississippi Free Press @MSFreePress & by considering a one-time or recurring donation to mfp.ms/donate.

While Cal Wells is a Phelps Dunbar attorney, he's also on the board of directors for the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank.

@MSPolicy describes itself as "a place where individual liberty...and responsibility reign because government is limited."

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1494059642128904194

*Cal Wells