State Senator Josh Kimbrell is calling for change, threatening to defund libraries across the state if certain books are not removed from the kid’s sections.

He held a press conference Monday, at the Spartanburg Public Library, following what he claims are hundreds of complaints against books that teach children about gender identities. During the press conference, he added that the books are hiding behind “being educational”.

Examples of the books in question are “You be You”, “The Pronoun Book”, and “My Own Way”.

“I do not want tax money to be used to put this stuff in the hands of kids against their parent’s wishes”, said Kimbrell.

Protestors lined to streets outside the library making their voices heard against Kimbrell. One mother of an LGBTQ+ child said, by taking away inclusive books you are taking away free speech.

Jodi Snyder said, “this is our library too and our library is inclusive, diverse, and loving and we protect our children by making sure that they are learning about all people and all backgrounds and all socioeconomic backgrounds and all orientations. Josh Kimbrell is trying to ban books. That’s banning freedom.”

The director of the Spartanburg County Library said since the start of the year, he has only received six complaints about LGBTQ+ positive books. He said if anyone has a concern over books to please fill out a complaint form your branch.