Greenville County Council on Tuesday night approved the appointment of Cecil Beckner to take the library seat vacated at the end of last year by Sid Cates.
Several speakers from the audience expressed consternation at this last-minute selection. Tiffany Santagati, a member of 864PRIDE, which is a gay advocacy organization in the Upstate, had been approved by the Public Works Committee and was expected to have been approved by the full council during the Committee of the Whole meeting, which occurred just before the regular council meeting.
Many constituents in conservative-leaning council districts expressed concern to their councilmen about her appointment to a board that has the authority to determine where books are placed in the library.
For instance, just this past week, the library board voted to remove sexually explicit and graphic materials from the children's section to the adult section. An attempt to also remove books dealing with gender identity from the juvenile section was tabled.
Many people who hold traditional values regarding sex and sexual identity were concerned that if Santagati were appointed to the board that she would support the keeping of such highly objectionable books in the children's section where all minors, even the children of parents who disapprove, can easily access those materials.
Santagati is obviously highly thought of by those who spoke on her behalf, including Amanda McDougald Scott, the chair of the Greenville County Democratic Party.
“This kind of behavior as deplorable,” said Scott, critical of council's decision to support Beckner over Santagati. She claimed that Santagati, as well as Councillor Liz Seman, a Republican on council who had put her name forward, had been bullied. Later in the meeting, Seman wanted to make it clear to the audience that the vote had not been unanimous. She and two others had voted for Santagati.
According to the 864PRIDE website, of which Santagati is the treasurer, one of the goals of the organization is to “bring peer support to the trans community.” 'Trans' refers to the erroneous term 'transsexual,' a belief that some males are actually female and vice-versa.
Although since the beginning of creation there have been only two genders, male and female, in today's society there are those individuals who claim that there are several more, which, in the minds of many, serves only to cause confusion.
There are many conservatives who deplore this unnecessary confusion and who do not want their children to be exposed to these anti-biblical philosophies and who believe that parents are the only ones who are ultimately responsible for the sexual education of their children.
Santagati claimed that her character and integrity had been attacked by members of council. She said that she wants to help people who look, who worship and even who love different than she does. “This is how I understand the love of Jesus,” she said.
Another speaker claimed that Santagati has been painted as a monster “who wants to do bad things to children or allow them to be around dangerous material. . . She is the last person in the world who would want to harm children.”
Conservative religious motives were attributed to those who opposed Santagati. One speaker, a man in a suit and tie who identified himself as a reverend, said, “This opposition to Miss Santagati is another instance of religious extremism persecuting some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” adding, “We have allowed religious hysteria to prevent the appointment of a highly qualified citizen to leadership in our county.” He said that the council had chosen the way of fear and ignorance.
Another speaker said that the council had fallen “victim to a political stunt fueled by a religious agenda.”
The next meeting of the library board will be held on Monday, April 24.