Terri Lesley (inset) – Photo: Terri Lesley; Campbell Public Library – Photo: Google Maps
Former Campbell County Public Library director Terri Lesley will receive $700,000 in a lawsuit settlement after being fired amid community backlash over LGBTQ-themed books and the library’s acknowledgment of Pride Month.
Lesley, who had worked for the library system in Gillette, Wyoming, since 1996 and served as director from 2012 to 2023, was dismissed following a 4–1 board of trustees vote that cited performance issues — a move that came after two years of conservative pressure over LGBTQ content in the library’s teen section.
Critics, including several parents and county residents, argued that certain books in the teen section were inappropriate for minors. Several of those titles addressed sex education or featured LGBTQ characters or themes, according to CBS News.
Among the titles Lesley was accused of failing to censor, remove, or relocate were 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, and Sex Is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg.
Lesley previously told Wyoming Public Radio that the library had a process for challenging books, but the board seemed intent on bypassing it to reach their preferred outcome. She feared that censoring books with LGBTQ themes or characters could expose her, the library, and even the county to lawsuits.
Lesley said the board of trustees never specified which books they wanted removed or relocated, leaving her to make those decisions on her own — apparently based on informal complaints from residents upset by the presence of LGBTQ material.
“The board flatly refused to tell me which books they think should be moved, even when I’ve questioned them. They’ve put the burden completely on me and not on them,” she said.
The dispute over whether to remove the books without following the library’s review process dragged on for two years, from July 2021 until Lesley’s dismissal almost exactly two years later.
Some residents also objected to a Pride Month blog post written by a teen volunteer that celebrated LGBTQ authors, as well as to a transgender magician hired for the library’s summer programming. At a 2022 board meeting, one resident claimed that 60% of the teen section’s books promoted “witchcraft,” while another accused the library of “indoctrinating” children.
After her firing, Lesley filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging she was discriminated against because of her association with LGBTQ people and her defense of the library’s Pride and Rainbow Book Month events. She also claimed she was retaliated against for opposing anti-LGBTQ discrimination and refusing to censor or remove books without following the proper review process. The EEOC later determined she could move forward with a lawsuit against county officials.
Lesley later sued county library officials, alleging they violated her First Amendment rights and created a hostile work environment. Her lawsuit claimed the board of trustees fired 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].”
In court filings, the county denied that Lesley’s dismissal was related to the book controversy, asserting that she was fired for cause based on her job performance.
The county ultimately agreed to settle the lawsuit out of court, paying Lesley $700,000 in damages. Under the agreement, she will drop her claims against the county library board but may continue pursuing a separate lawsuit against three individuals she says defamed her and “began a campaign to publicly discredit” her among local residents for refusing to remove LGBTQ-themed books from library shelves.
Iris Halpern, of the Denver-based law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, which represents Lesley, said her client hopes the settlement “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.”
“I do feel vindicated,” Lesley told CBS News after the settlement was announced. “It’s been a rough road, but I will never regret standing up for the First Amendment.”
A rainbow crosswalk in Columbus, Ohio -- part of a federal road safety study -- was defaced when an unknown vandal poured a black tar-like substance across its brightly colored panels.
The incident comes as rainbow crosswalks nationwide face political pushback, with Republican leaders including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis portraying them as dangerous distractions on the road.
City officials learned of the vandalism on August 25 after a Reddit post and calls to 311 alerted them to the damage. The crosswalk, at Lane and Waldeck Avenues near Ohio State University, had each of its colored panels smeared with the black substance.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito hinted in recent remarks that the court is unlikely to overturn its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide -- even though he personally disagrees with it.
Part of the court’s six-member conservative majority, Alito made the remarks on October 3 during an academic conference hosted by the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.
In his speech, Alito referenced the Obergefell marriage equality decision while praising what he called the "bright future" of constitutional originalism -- the idea that the Constitution should be interpreted as the founders intended when they wrote it in 1787.
Oregon State Rep. Cyrus Javadi announced last Friday that he's switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party, blasting GOP leaders for obstructing legislation that would have benefited his constituents and for pursuing an anti-LGBTQ agenda that "isolates minority communities when politically convenient."
Javadi, who confirmed on Substack he will seek re-election next year as a Democrat, boosts his new party's margin in the Oregon House to 37 seats out of 60.
In his Substack post, Javadi said Republicans blocked his efforts to help his district at every turn, prioritizing opposition to Democratic bills as a strategy rather than judging proposals on their merits.
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