By Dan Wilson
Rushford, MN
I love the cultural and civic institutions that make our rural communities such a great place to live. From the post office, to restaurants, the county fair, local stores, to public schools, public libraries, and our newspaper. These institutions make our social lives richer. So, it was with great interest that I watched an editorial back-and-forth involving my two favorite institutions: public libraries in the Fillmore County Journal. For those of you who don’t voraciously read local commentary (you really are missing out) let me catch you up: In the middle of June, Ben Bisbach wrote eloquently about his experience attending a public meeting at the Harmony Public Library in which some residents petitioned the library to ban children’s books about gay people. The library declined to do so. Last week, Nancy Earndhardt responded to Ben’s letter, encouraging the library to ban books about homosexuality and generally indicated that she believed homosexuality should not exist.
It is important to note that it is not illegal to be a homosexual or to marry someone of the same gender. However, for some, this may feel like a recent change (2013 in Minnesota). This general change of cultural norms happened over the course of my generation (Millennial here!), and such changes may feel disorientating and confusing to those who grew up with a different cultural norm. In this way, rights being expanded to more people may make others feel as if their rights are receding. To be clear, they are not. Nancy Earndhardt certainly has a right to submit a letter to the editor expressing her beliefs in a privately owned newspaper (though one may question the judgment of the editor). It is, however, a different kettle of fish to suggest that civic institutions also adopt this view. Public institutions receiving public funds should serve the public. Libraries do this by offering a wide variety of stories and materials that reflect the interests and identities of the communities they serve. There are plenty of LGBTQ folks in Harmony and Fillmore County, and the library does its job by making sure those folks feel represented.
Our towns thrive when everyone feels welcomed just as they are. I loved visiting Gammel Dag Fest in Peterson and seeing my neighbors take pride in their Scandinavian heritage. I also loved going to the Pride Fest in Winona and seeing my friends celebrate their LGBTQ identity. Our communities are frankly more interesting, fun, and exciting places to live when we allow each other to be fully themselves. For this to happen, we need to show respect and tolerance even when one finds some identities uncomfortable.
If we want to support the mental health of the LGBTQ youth in our schools (and if we want to see them move back home after college) we need to be clear that you do not have to change or hide who you are to be accepted in Harmony, Peterson, Rushford etc. When we fail to live up to this, we risk closing our doors to the people who make our small towns fun, engaging, and a vibrant place to live.
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