Thread by @NBCNews

A public library in Vinton, Iowa, has been in a monthslong controversy spurred by anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, attempts to censor books with progressive and LGBTQ themes and the alleged harassment of LGBTQ staff members. #NBCNewsThreads (1/13) nbcnews.to/3QwcA80

The situation reached a tipping point last month when the library was forced to close for more than a week after its interim director resigned, saying he felt ostracized for being gay. (2/13)

With efforts to censor LGBTQ books in many communities across the U.S., the situation in Vinton appears to be a microcosm of a nationwide trend. It also marks the arrival of a new battleground in the culture wars: public libraries. (3/13)

In January 2021, library director Janette McMahon hired Colton Neely, who is gay, as the new children’s librarian. She called him “utterly fantastic” but said that after hiring him, the library environment started to become less “comfortable.” (4/13)

Within a few months, McMahon said some patrons had started accusing her of having a liberal agenda, while another checked out certain books that mentioned race or LGBTQ Pride and refused to return them for a prolonged period of time. (5/13)

Eventually, McMahon said, the growing fervor in the town made her decide she couldn’t effectively run the library. She resigned in July 2021. (6/13)

Neely stepped into her shoes until the library’s board of trustees could hire a more permanent replacement. He dealt with both subtle and blatant homophobia from a handful of patrons, he alleged. (7/13)

In November, the library board hired a highly-experienced new director. Renee Greenlee was someone Neely thought “could fight this crowd back.” (8/13)

As director, Greenlee dealt with disapproving comments from the community on the majority of her staff being “openly a part of the LGBTQ community” and requests for more books “that discuss how God created and designed people as either male or female.” (9/13)

By May, Greenlee called her staff into her office and tearfully told them she had put in her resignation letter. She said she would leave in early June. (10/13)

It was just a matter of weeks before Neely left, too. He penned a resignation letter to the library board in June, writing that despite his hard-earned qualifications, he felt reduced to just “the gay man of the library.” (11/13)

Another staffer left at the same time as Neely, forcing the library to close for more than a week at the beginning of July, leaving residents who relied on the library in the lurch. (12/13)

“This in particular has really put a dark cloud over the community,” said Dan Engledow, a 42-year-old gay man who has lived in Vinton all his life. “There’s a small group of people who have caused lots of problems.” (13/13)