A former Wyoming library director, fired for refusing to remove LGBTQ+ books, won a $700,000 lawsuit settlement on Wednesday after she sued for wrongful termination.

Terri Lesley, who oversaw a public library in the city of Gillette, was fired in August 2023 for refusing to remove books from the kids and teen section that had alleged sexual content, including This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, Dating and Sex: A Guide for the 21st Century Teen Boy by Andrew P. Smiler, How Do You Make a Baby by Anna Fiske, Doing It by Hannah Witton, Sex is a Funny Word by Corey Silverberg, and Doing It by Hannah Witton.

Related

Federal judge says “government speech” allows libraries to censor LGBTQ+ books

Angry residents in Gillette also complained about a Pride Month blog post written by a teen volunteer celebrating LGBTQ+ authors and a trans magician hired for a summer library program. At an October 2022 board meeting, one resident claimed that 60% of the books in the teen section were “witchcraft.” Another said Gillette’s library had become an “indoctrination center.”

In late July 2023, the board of the Campbell County Public Library system voted four-to-one to fire Lesley. She had been the library’s director since 2012 and had worked at the location for 27 years.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Lesley sued county library officials. Her complaint alleged, “Defendants continually subjected Ms. Lesley to a hostile work environment and ultimately terminated her because she refused to remove the books that a narrow subset of residents challenged for their LGBTQ+ themes and because she engaged with, welcomed, and did not discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals in access to [the library and its services].”

County library board officials claimed they removed Lesley for her workplace performance, and not for refusing to remove the LGBTQ+ books.

But when asked about the lawsuit by Wyoming Public Radio, Lesley said, “The board flatly refused to tell me which books they think should be moved, even when I’ve questioned them. They have put the burden completely on me and not on them.”

The settlement agreement requires Lesley to drop her lawsuit against the county library board. However, she will still pursue a separate lawsuit against three individuals who complained and pushed for the books’ removal, CBS News reported.

Lesley’s attorney, Iris Halpern, said, “We hope at least that it sends a message to other library districts, other states, other counties, that the First Amendment is alive and strong and that our values against discrimination also remain alive and strong. These are public entities, they’re government officials, they need to keep in mind their constitutional obligations.”

In 2024, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 821 attempts to censor library materials and services. In those cases, 2,452 unique titles were challenged. A majority of the challenges came from a small number of individuals and targeted books with LGBTQ+ and non-white authors and themes.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.