The Madison County Library System is under fire by Ridgeland mayor Gene McGee, because it displays books with LGBT themes and by LGBT authors. The mayor said that complaints had been made after a new book display in September 2021, in which books with LGBT themes had been displayed among other books.
As a result, the mayor pleged that he would withhold annual funding of up to $110,000, saying that he does not believe any sexually explicit material should be displayed in libraries. McGee said his main concern is the possible exposure of children to "inappropriate" books. Books that were complained about include "What Are Your Words?" by Katherine Locke which discusses the use of pronouns among children.
Now the library system has received support from an unusual side: The furry community has announced to raise funds, to avoid financial damages for the library. Furries are a group of people who role play as animals, often with anthromorphized looks. Some furries are members of the LGBT community themselves, and furries have supported LGBT issues in the past.
The fundraising effort were started by a Florida tech worker who goes by his online name Soatok, who saw a tweet about the libraries situation and decided to take action to help. He initially donated $500 and posted a screenshot of his donation. Only 24 hours later, 189 people had raised as much as $9,000. A few days later, the number has grown to $80,000. Soatok stated that he wants to fight back against "bigots", and that a few peoples' bigotry does not speak for all residents of Mississippi.
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