Adrianne Peterson, director of the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the public library system in San Diego, shows Pride-themed library cards that are available, July 12, 2023.
Soon, she would get her answer: Stacks of Amazon boxes containing new copies of the books the protesters checked out started to arrive at the library after The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the protest. Roughly 180 people, mostly San Diegans, gave more than $15,000 to the library system, which after a city match will provide more than $30,000 toward more LGBTQ-themed materials and programming, including an expansion of the system’s already popular drag queen story hours.
And in Chino, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, Tony Thurmond, was kicked out of a school board meeting Thursday after criticizing a proposal by conservatives that would notify parents if a student asks to use a name or pronoun that does not align with their birth certificate. The city also has embraced the LGBTQ community; in 2020, voters elected Todd Gloria as San Diego’s first openly gay mayor and have sent Toni Atkins to the state Legislature, where she has become the first lesbian to serve as the leader of each house. Both are Democrats.
The San Diego residents who sent the email to the Rancho Peñasquitos Library, Amy Vance and Martha Martin, did not respond to requests for comment. City officials said they have not heard since from the library patrons. Burch said that his group does not encourage supporters to break the law. But, he said, if one decides to keep a book indefinitely, “that’s perfectly fine.”