(LifeSiteNews) — A self-described “Marxist lesbian” who is now in charge of the American Library Association (ALA) says she regrets the controversy caused by touting the label when she rose to the position but continues to embrace identifying with an ideology responsible for more than 100 million deaths across the 20th century.
In April 2022, the ALA elected Emily Drabinski its latest president. At the time, Focus on the Family’s Daily Citizen reported that she celebrated the news in a since-deleted tweet declaring, “I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary. I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity! And my mom is SO PROUD I love you mom.”
Drabinski, who was previously interim chief librarian and critical pedagogy librarian at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, campaigned for the role in part by calling for the ALA to be mobilized against what she called the “consequences of decades of unchecked climate change, class war, white supremacy, and imperialism.”
Marxism, which teaches rejection of religion, free markets, and private property in the name of building a supposed collectivist utopia, provided the intellectual fuel for the Communist regimes of the 20th century that killed more than 100 million subjects and enslaved millions more.
The rise of an avowed Marxist to the top of what is commonly mistaken for a mainstream educational institution alarmed many conservative parents, activists, and lawmakers. NBC News reported that over the past year, Republicans in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Wyoming have pushed their state libraries to break from the ALA, citing Drabinski’s tweet.
“I was excited to highlight and celebrate two aspects of my identity that are really important to me, and are often under a lot of scrutiny,” Drabinksi, who took office last month, told NBC. “I didn’t anticipate these kinds of targeted attacks being used as a bludgeon against library workers across the country. I really think that is regrettable, and I wish that wasn’t happening right now.”
Drabinski said she doesn’t want the organization to “get stuck talking exclusively on the terms that they have set for us rather than the terms that I think the rest of us operate on every day,” but will not shy away from her radical views. “My own personal political viewpoint is a target right now, but my personal agenda doesn’t drive the association. It’s the agenda of all of us together.”
The ALA is currently a major player in the ongoing controversy over public schools and libraries exposing children to sexuality-related material that features age-inappropriate explicit details and/or imagery, as well as left-wing ideological messages, via its Library Bill of Rights that declares books and other materials in libraries “should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation” or “because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval” and that a “person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”
A note at the bottom of the page acknowledges that “questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices,” but the group’s statement on how these principles apply to minors’ access to materials indicates that the group, and by extension any facility that formally adopts its standards, does not allow for any age-based restrictions on access to certain content.
“Equitable access to all library resources and services should not be abridged based on chronological age, apparent maturity, educational level, literacy skills, legal status, or through restrictive scheduling and use policies,” the ALA says, and concerns about that access should be handled exclusively by how parents “advise” their own children. “Libraries and library governing bodies should not use rating systems to inhibit a minor’s access to materials.”