Librarian Sues Over Firing for Displaying Book With Trans Character

Georgia librarian LaVonnia Moore says she lost her job after letting a local family include its book choice in a summer reading display.

By John Riley on November 10, 2026 @JRileyMW

A Georgia librarian has sued Pierce County and the Three Rivers Regional Library System, claiming she was fired for including a trans-inclusive children’s book in a summer reading display.

LaVonnia Moore’s federal lawsuit, filed October 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, alleges that the library system and county violated her rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Moore, a Black woman who managed the Pierce County Library in Blackshear, Georgia, alleges she was fired because of her religion, sex, and race. She also accuses the library system and county of retaliation and violating her rights to free speech, due process, and equal protection under the law.

Moore’s claims stem from her June 18, 2025, firing after 15 years of employment, which she alleges was punishment for allowing When Aidan Became a Brother, a book about a transgender boy, to be included in the summer reading display. Moore had invited local families to select books with colorful covers from the library’s collection. A family she describes as “gender-fluid” chose the book, and she allowed it to be displayed.

“I wasn’t going to tell the kid no,” Moore told The Advocate last year. “I was just happy the kid was reading, happy they were engaging in their library.”

But her refusal to censor the family’s contribution to the “Color Our World” display drew complaints. An anti-LGBTQ activist involved with the Alliance for Faith and Family emailed county commissioners to complain about the book’s inclusion, calling it “mental rape” intended to cause gender confusion among children. In a separate email, another resident called for Moore to be replaced, and one commissioner replied in agreement, according to the lawsuit.

The county commissioners then ordered the library system to fire Moore, threatening to withhold county funding if it kept her on, according to the lawsuit.

Moore’s complaint also notes that Pierce County officials pulled her library out of the Okefenokee Regional Library System in 2024 after the Waycross-Ware County Public Library displayed Pride flags and a mural featuring a rainbow-colored heart. The Pierce County Library then joined the Three Rivers system.

In her lawsuit, Moore argues that allowing the gender-fluid family’s book choice to stand was consistent with her religious beliefs. She also claims that the county and library system discriminated against her on the basis of sex because she associated with the family and allowed the trans-inclusive book to be displayed.

In support of her racial discrimination claim, Moore says Three Rivers replaced her with a white woman and retained a white gay man in a leadership position.

Moore says she has suffered humiliation and financial hardship since her firing. She alleges that the county and library system retaliated against her by opposing her efforts to find another job after she filed a discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She says no comparable library jobs are available within commuting distance of Pierce County and that she has been “under-employed or unemployed” since her firing.

Moore is seeking back pay, front pay, compensation for lost benefits, and damages for pain, suffering, and mental anguish stemming from her public firing and the damage to her reputation.

Family and friends have pledged financial assistance to Moore, and a GoFundMe fundraiser has helped support her, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

“I loved going to work and helping other people and teaching people how to do things,” Moore said after her initial termination. “This has ruined my name and reputation, and it is disappointing and hurtful.”