a tennessee county fired its library director for leaving gay books in the kids' section. now it's her turn.
via WPLN, WSMV and NBC News, with the federal docket.
"I stand by my decision and I will not change my mind." That was Luanne James in March, as NBC News reported, shortly before the Rutherford County Library System board in Tennessee voted 8 to 3 to fire her. She had been the county's library director since July 2025.
Her offense was declining to move books. The board wanted more than 100 titles, most of them about LGBTQ people, taken out of the children's section and shelved with the adult collection. WSMV puts the number at 132. James said no in writing, and the board chairman at the time, Cody York, explained the board's view to NBC: it was "dangerous and inaccurate to tell children" that "boys can be girls and girls can be boys."
what the lawsuit says
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, James filed James v. Rutherford County Library System in federal court in Nashville. According to WPLN and WSMV, the suit says her firing violated anti-discrimination law and her First Amendment right to free speech, and it asks for back pay, front pay, lost benefits and damages for emotional distress. "The movement of the children's books to the adult section was a form of viewpoint discrimination," she told WSMV.
WPLN also reports an allegation that has been part of her account since spring, and which the Advocate reported in March: that York directed her to compile checkout lists with patrons' names, addresses and household details. She refused that too. The board had not responded to WSMV by the time it published.
The fight started with the state. In October 2025, WPLN notes, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett told libraries to review their collections for "age-appropriateness," citing President Trump's executive order on "gender ideology." Rutherford County read that as an instruction to relocate children's books.
The board is interviewing candidates for her permanent replacement. Whoever gets the job inherits a lawsuit, a children's section and, presumably, a very clear sense of which one the board cares about.
