August 5th 'See You at The Library' event isn't the pro-library event you think it is
Nobody wants to see this at the library
Chris Gonzales, confirmed earlier this month by the Anchorage Assembly to the public safety commission, left his job as an FBI agent to start GoodTube Kids—an online venture that seeks to provide "safe video content for youth" as opposed to mainstream companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Netflix, who he says promotes "dangerous, idiotic, or progressive ideologies."
GoodTube Kids is hosting a "See You at The Library" event on August 5th at the Anchorage Public Library (APL). The campaign is being spearheaded by washed-up child actor Kirk Cameron and Brave Books who have planned similar public library events nationwide on the same day—encouraging supporters to “pray, sing, and read BRAVE Books and other books of virtue” and fill public libraries with friends, family, and pastors to turn the nation "back to God."
Brave Books publishes books that it claims “empower(s) this generation’s youth with conservative values” while “glorifying the Lord in all we do.” They cater to conservatives by capitalizing on the manufactured anti-LGBTQ+ indoctrination narrative pushed by extremist organizations like Moms for Liberty whose members have harassed school officials and worked to ban LGBTQ+ books under the guise of 'saving the children.'
In 2022, Moms for Liberty kicked off its "Moms for Libraries" campaign aimed at infiltrating school libraries with "liberty-minded" books. Unsurprisingly, "Moms for Libraries” worked with Brave Books to launch the campaign.
The August "See You at The Library" event (donations welcome 🙄) was inspired as a reaction against drag queen story hours and LGBTQ+ books many conservatives wrongfully and rather grotesquely portray as being pornographic and unhealthy.
Curious about whether the public library was hosting drag queen story hour, I reached out to the library's spokesperson, Misty Rose Nevick, who said that story hour has not been held at APL in about five years, specifically since 2018.
Activist businesses are all the new rage
A quick perusal of GoodTube Kids' literature reveals vilification of the LGBTQ+ community under the guise of 'saving the children,' while pandering to those who hold "traditional Christian and conservative values."
"If our youth are watching Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or YouTube Kids you can rest assured they are being preached pro-Critical Race Theory, pro-Transgender, pro-Drag Culture messaging, and more. Parents don't often realize the gross amount of obscene, pornographic, and dangerous content that is not only available but is even recommended to our children," GoodTube Kids warns.
In many respects, the rise of "activist businesses" was inevitable, especially when one considers the disastrous Trump presidency that greenlit conspiracy theories, fomented hatred toward transgender individuals, and ended with an attempt to overthrow the government—but in fairness, on both the left and the right, companies actively align their missions and values with social or political causes with their eye on the prize—generating profits.
Some activist businesses might advocate for human rights, equality, and diversity in America. Others may come out in support of book censorship, advocate for loosey goosy gun laws that have the 'unintended' effect of school children being mowed down with military-grade assault weapons, and support pro-forced birth policies that endanger women's health.
Some activist businesses may share right-wing propaganda claiming public libraries are wrongfully utilizing taxpayer dollars to push gender ideology with drag queen story hour programs like the ones that haven't been held at the Anchorage Public Library in half a decade.
Others might retweet (re-xeet?) an extremist organization that peddles LGBTQ+ conspiracy theories asserting that educators and school officials are working overtime to indoctrinate children.
They might even share a post from Brave Books founder Trent Talbot who referred to LGBTQ+ content on TikTok as a "plague of insanity," language that doesn't sound very Christ-like.
Library advocates, individuals who cherish their freedom to read, and those who oppose the imposition of extreme conservative ideals on their families' reading choices should be vigilant about looking into the motives of businesses—if only to avoid inadvertently exposing their children to right-wing propaganda at library events that were never intended to demonstrate support for libraries to begin with.
