News and Events => Political and Legal News => Topic started by: Jessica_Rose on September 01, 2026, 09:15:45 PM Return to Full Version
Title: She was fired for refusing to censor LGBTQ+ books. She just got a big payback.
Post by: Jessica_Rose on September 01, 2026, 09:15:45 PM
Post by: Jessica_Rose on September 01, 2026, 09:15:45 PM
She was fired for refusing to censor LGBTQ+ books. She just got a big payback.
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/09/she-was-fired-for-refusing-to-censor-lgbtq-books-she-just-got-a-big-payback/
Daniel Villarreal (1 Sep 2026)
Saline County, Arkansas has agreed to pay $275,000 to Patty Hector, the county library's former executive director, to settle her lawsuit claiming that county officials violated her free speech rights by firing her in October 2023 after she publicly opposed an April 2023 resolution from the county's all-Republican Quorum Court to remove LGBTQ+ books from the children's section of the Saline County Library. The settlement was announced last Thursday.
In April 2023, the Saline County Quorum Court recommended that local libraries "relocate materials that are not subject matter or age appropriate for children, due to their sexual content or imagery, to an area that is not accessible to children."
Hector spoke at the court's public convenings in May 2023, saying she had no intention of following the resolution. She also said that no one had used the available processes to challenge specific titles in the library, The Benton Courier reported. She said the court's resolution had made her library staff subject to being "dehumanized" by online harassment from "fanatics" who referred to staff members as "pedophiles" and "groomers."
"There is nothing wrong with those books. It's not illegal to be gay or trans," she told the court.
At the time, David Gibson, chairman of the Saline County Republican Committee, claimed, "The library staff are intentionally pushing X-rated books on children," and said people who opposed the court's resolution "support pornography in the children's section."
Saline County Judge Matt Brumley subsequently fired Hector after the aforementioned court gave him power to do so. By February 2025, Hector filed a lawsuit alleging that Brumley and the Saline County Quorum Court unconstitutionally used their power to retaliate against her, violating her free speech rights in the process.
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I'll give everyone one guess as to which county we were in while living in Arkansas. -- Jessica Rose
@Sarah B
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/09/she-was-fired-for-refusing-to-censor-lgbtq-books-she-just-got-a-big-payback/
Daniel Villarreal (1 Sep 2026)
Saline County, Arkansas has agreed to pay $275,000 to Patty Hector, the county library's former executive director, to settle her lawsuit claiming that county officials violated her free speech rights by firing her in October 2023 after she publicly opposed an April 2023 resolution from the county's all-Republican Quorum Court to remove LGBTQ+ books from the children's section of the Saline County Library. The settlement was announced last Thursday.
In April 2023, the Saline County Quorum Court recommended that local libraries "relocate materials that are not subject matter or age appropriate for children, due to their sexual content or imagery, to an area that is not accessible to children."
Hector spoke at the court's public convenings in May 2023, saying she had no intention of following the resolution. She also said that no one had used the available processes to challenge specific titles in the library, The Benton Courier reported. She said the court's resolution had made her library staff subject to being "dehumanized" by online harassment from "fanatics" who referred to staff members as "pedophiles" and "groomers."
"There is nothing wrong with those books. It's not illegal to be gay or trans," she told the court.
At the time, David Gibson, chairman of the Saline County Republican Committee, claimed, "The library staff are intentionally pushing X-rated books on children," and said people who opposed the court's resolution "support pornography in the children's section."
Saline County Judge Matt Brumley subsequently fired Hector after the aforementioned court gave him power to do so. By February 2025, Hector filed a lawsuit alleging that Brumley and the Saline County Quorum Court unconstitutionally used their power to retaliate against her, violating her free speech rights in the process.
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I'll give everyone one guess as to which county we were in while living in Arkansas. -- Jessica Rose
@Sarah B