Mat-Su 'May'hem: Fifty-Three 'More' Book Challenges Filed Last May
Jackie Goforth, a registered Alaska Republican, activist, apparent Pizzagate proponent, and author who has written numerous romance novels, as well as the Paranormal Romance series Vampire Assassin League under the pen name Jackie Ivie, claimed in May that she had filed "fifty-three
more" book challenges in the Matanuska Susitna Borough.
The idea of someone submitting 53 book challenges and then another 53 has led me to contemplate the moments in 2021 when others insisted that I had too much free time on my hands.
Goforth made her statement during a May 3, 2023, meeting of the MSBSD School Board, where she ever-so dramatically played the victim, claiming that she had been shamed, shunned, and chastised for her anti-First Amendment advocacy in support of restricting the reading rights of her fellow Alaskans.
During the May meeting, Goforth also revealed that she had been to the police station that same morning to complain about a Palmer librarian for returning a book she didn't like back to the library's shelves...you know, where it rightfully belongs.
Goforth's statement that she had challenged 'fifty-three more' books in the Mat-Su Borough is unclear but noteworthy. One month prior, the MSBSD School Board ordered the removal of 56 books from schools that had been challenged by an as-yet-identified individual or individuals.
That action spurred a lawsuit filed by The Northern Justice Project, LLC, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska. The lawsuit alleges that the school district violated the "critical constitutional rights" of students when it ordered the removal of the 56 books in April.
MSBSD Librarian Katie Clark has twice requested a list from the district administration, specifying who challenged the 56 books. However, the district has stymied Clark, choosing instead to withhold that information from school staff, parents, and the public.
Thinking out loud, I wouldn't want to release those details either, especially if doing so would reveal that the school district removed those books in response to a barrage of challenges that had been filed by a Pizzagate proponent, or that the list of challenged books was compiled by Moms for Liberty or that the book challenges were filed by members associated with Moms for Liberty Mat-Su which had launched in...wait for it...April.
As there could be no conceivable rationale for keeping those names private, I have filed a public records request with the school district seeking the names of the individuals who filed the book challenges. I totally expect they'll provide those names since MSBSD loves to champion the transparency of its citizens library book-banning committee. 🙄
Anyway, back to the thing, Goforth's admission that she scuttled off to the police department to complain about the public library and its dedicated librarians, tracks with the efforts of Moms for Liberty members who have asked law enforcement to arrest and charge librarians with felonies over books they falsely claim are p0Rn0gRapHic, obscene, and lewd.
In one particular instance, demonstrating the lengths the far-right will go to in their deranged quest to imprison librarians, a teacher who was directly coordinating with Moms for Liberty, exploited a Florida high school student as the basis for a complaint with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office over the book Storm and Fury. It's a batshit crazy story you absolutely must read.
Also working with Goforth to 'save the children' from...books and pesky librarians...is Wasilla resident Cris Tyree, who also testified in support of censorship at the same May school board meeting.
"We have librarians that are fighting us really bad because of the First Amendment and the right of the child to ask to see all of this. I can't believe children are asking to see sadistic and masochistic stuff. I don't believe that," said Tyree.
Tyree is correct—children aren't asking librarians to see sadistic and masochistic...stuff. Often, book-banning extremists will label books as lewd and obscene simply because they don't like the subject matter, especially with respect to LGBTQ issues.
Toward the tail-end of her testimony, which was laced with repeated baseless and breathtaking attacks accusing librarians of wanting to corrupt children's minds, Tyree stated that librarians should be jailed for 'doing porn' and claimed to have shared that sentiment with law enforcement.
She also shared some additional thoughts with the police, which I won't dare attempt to dissect. You can listen to her remarks in the video; it's not mandatory—but uncork a bottle of wine before you do.
As if the Mat-Su weren't already a flashpoint for right-wing activism, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor threw red meat to book-banning extremists—issuing a veiled threat in a guidance letter sent to Alaska librarians last week, warning them to take care that their collection of materials does not violate municipal, state, and federal education laws that prohibit the distribution of hardcore 'P0Rn' to minors.
Rebecca Moorman, chair of the Alaska Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee, said Alaska libraries would not be required to remove books from their shelves. Taylor's letter, Moorman opined, was an attempt to get librarians to self-censor and not buy diverse books.
While the success of Taylor's attempt to intimidate librarians into self-censorship remains uncertain, in the short term, there's no doubt that Goforth and her allies are salivating over Taylor's letter—emboldened to press on fanning the flames of culture wars and trampling on Alaskans First Amendment rights.
