A Maury County, Tennessee mother has gone viral after she criticized County Commissioner Aaron Miller for driving the county’s library director from his job for refusing to take down a Pride display.
Maury County Commissioner Aaron Miller—who runs the local organization Foundation for Liberty and Freedom—had earlier called on county library director Zachary Fox to resign on the grounds that a display of LGBTQ+ literature was inappropriate.
Miller claimed that the materials were “child-targeted," adding that as a father, his "line in the sand was crossed when the library exhibited a bright, colorful display of no less than 28 books for this past Pride Month, all of which were written and marketed specifically for minors, especially young children."
But he was quickly taken to task by local mother Jessee Graham, who railed into him in a speech during a meeting of the Maury County Board of Trustees about the circumstances that cost Fox his job.
You can hear what Graham said in the video below.
\u201c\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 MUST-WATCH: \u201cI\u2019ve never been sexually assaulted at a drag show, but I have been at church. TWICE! The men told me it was MY fault.\u201d \n\nMAURY COUNTY library board - local mom rips homophobe County Commissioner Aaron Miller, whose ignorant hate chased out the library director\ud83d\udcda\u201d— The Tennessee Holler (@The Tennessee Holler) 1666881641
Graham took the podium and said:
“Our town has never seen so much homophobic crap as we have since Miller came along. These people have been with us this entire time and we have never had a problem with it."
"They have never done any of the vile and disgusting things that that man and his weird cronies have leaked out of their mouths.”
Graham noted that while conservatives seeking to censor or ban LGBTQ+ books claim to want to protect children from sexual abuse, she has "never been sexually assaulted at a drag show" but has at church—twice—and that the church “told me it was my fault.”
She proceeded to call out the Board of Trustees specifically, saying that they want to “completely annihilate a group of human beings who just wanna exist." She added that if any of her four children are “part of this community, they will be lucky because there is not a whole lot of families that would love their child unconditionally.”
Finally, she delivered a striking rebuke of the group's collective homophobia:
“And the fact that they want to take that away from children, that is child abuse, to immediately tell your child that he is wrong for feeling like he doesn’t belong in conversion therapy.”
Graham's righteous condemnation went viral after footage of her remarks was disseminated online by the progressive website The Tennessee Holler, which is dedicated to "lifting up progressive voices and fearlessly shining a light on injustices throughout Tennessee."
Many have applauded her for speaking out.
\u201cYup, they've pissed off the women. Watch every second of this and watch it again before you go vote. \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\u201d— Big (American AF) Teezy (@Big (American AF) Teezy) 1666894072
\u201cThis woman is a hero. We need more of this type passion to fight these sick, weird men.\u201d— Outspokenartist729 (@Outspokenartist729) 1666908450
\u201cWatch this amazing women @jesseegraham24 and share! We need more of you in this world! #StandUpForWhatsRight #Humanrights\u201d— ALT DOJ (@ALT DOJ) 1666895066
\u201cMore people need to do this.\u201d— Itsjustme\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 \u262e\ufe0f\ud83d\udc8d\ud83d\ude43\ud83d\ude09\ud83d\ude18\ud83e\udd70 (@Itsjustme\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 \u262e\ufe0f\ud83d\udc8d\ud83d\ude43\ud83d\ude09\ud83d\ude18\ud83e\udd70) 1666897052
\u201cThis is spectacular.\u201d— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Dubious State of Serenity \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Dubious State of Serenity \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1666898009
\u201cSomeone give this women an award! She said everything I want to say to them! #TransRightsAreHumanRights #LGBTQ\u201d— Foxintheflowerss \ud83d\udc51\ud83e\udd8a (@Foxintheflowerss \ud83d\udc51\ud83e\udd8a) 1666899575
\u201c\ud83d\udd25Wow, this is incredible.\ud83d\udd25\n\nWe need more people like @jesseegraham24 to stand up and call out bigotry and hatred. More importantly, we need communities to show up and support these voices. Network locally, attend meetings if you can.\n\nWe are the majority, and we will win.\u201d— The Great Gig in the Sky (@The Great Gig in the Sky) 1666901778
\u201cAn angry mother goes viral after giving an anti-LGBTQ commissioner absolute hell during a public meeting\n\nThis man got a much-deserved dressing down by a powerhouse speaker. WATCH and LISTEN. This needs to be copied world-wide. \n\nhttps://t.co/ruvgmssfb5\u201d— Dane B. McFadhen (@Dane B. McFadhen) 1666901812
\u201cI hope she is in a long line of Tennesseans expressing these sentiments.\u201d— Renee Summers \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Renee Summers \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1666907498
A pushback against literature deemed subversive has dominated the culture wars as of late, becoming a flashpoint among the far-right amid a campaign by Republicans to energize conservative voters, particularly in school board elections.
In recent months, the Republican Party has been gripped by an ongoing "groomer" hysteria accusing LGBTQ+ people of building relationships, trust and emotional connections with children so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
This has resulted in a renewed pushback against the alleged "LGBTQ+ indoctrination" of children that has prompted at least one Republican to suggest parents and teachers who support LGBTQ+ children should be "executed for treason."
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter