A man holds a sign at Crook County Library in November 2022. He and others opposed a proposed rule that would have moved all LGBTQ+ books in the library into a separate section.
Joni Land / OPB
Earlier this year, conservative activists put pressure on the Crook County public library to segregate books that depict LGBTQ+ experiences. Now, one of the leaders of that effort is among a slate of candidates running for the Crook County school board in the May 16 election. OPB’s Joni Auden Land spoke to LGBTQ+ residents of Crook County about what living through this political moment there is like.
Note: The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.
Dave Miller: More than 450 bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights have been introduced in state legislatures this year, including in Oregon. That’s according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In Central Oregon’s Crook County, this national trend is playing out in some local institutions. First, conservative activists put pressure on the public library to segregate books reflective of LGBTQ experiences. Now, one of the leaders of that effort is on a slate of candidates running for the Crook County School Board in the May 16th election. OPB’s Central Oregon reporter Joni Auden Land has been following these developments and joins me now in the studio. Hey Joni.
Joni Auden Land: Hey Dave.
Miller: So what’s happening right now with the Crook County school board?
Auden Land: Well, there’s a slate of three far right candidates running for control of this school board and they call themselves Crook County for Better Education. Now online they say they oppose indoctrination in schools and that they want to “restore wholesome education.” It’s not clear what those terms mean right now, but at least one member of the slate has opposed school materials that discuss civil rights for people of color and LGBTQ people. And for school board races in a small district of this size in a rural area, they’re very organized. The candidates are backed by a recently formed political action committee created by political consultant Brian Iverson. Now you may recognize Iverson’s name because he’s married to a state lawmaker who is Republican House minority leader Vikki Breese-Iverson. And he did not respond to requests for comment.
Miller: How is this lead of candidates part of a broader movement of anti LGBTQ+ activism?
Auden Land: Well, one of these candidates, Cheyenne Edgerly, was a key figure in a controversy at the local public library. Now, Edgerly spent months pressuring officials to segregate children’s books depicting queer people. That effort failed, but she hasn’t stopped speaking out on the issue. She also pressured leaders of the local public school district and later that superintendent canceled an elementary school’s field trips to the library. She also did not respond to requests for comment on what we’re doing right now. There are other efforts like this nationwide, of course. Conservative candidates are running for school boards across the country on polarizing social issues. We’ve already seen this play out in Oregon, for example, in Newberg. In fact, one current school board member in Crook County said his district could end up being the next Newberg if these candidates win.
Miller: It’s actually been a little while since we talked about that. Can you just remind us what happened in Newberg?
Auden Land: Sure, basically a conservative slate won slight control of the school board in Newberg. They soon enacted policies banning pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags from schools in that district. And that action and others led to some school board members and administrators resigning from the district entirely. And there are already fears that if this slate wins in Crook County, a similar exodus could happen. You could see employees resigning en masse essentially.
Miller: What’s it been like for people who oppose these efforts that target queerness?
Auden Land: Some of the LGBTQ+ advocates I’ve talked to there say they felt harassed and bullied after speaking out. There was an assistant principal who quit her job after speaking out against LGBTQ+ books in a separate section of the library. People were calling for her firing and she said it eventually became too much to handle and that she didn’t get as much support from the district as she might have wanted. The head of the library board was recently removed from her post after she opposed Edgerly. Her name is LaQuinta Stec and she called on Edgerly to resign because of her homophobic statements and said it was clear Edgerly had joined the library board with a personal agenda rather than a mission to serve the general public. But after Stec made a speech at a library board meeting, she herself was ousted from power. The Cook County Court soon removed Stec from the board. When I asked Cook County Judge Seth Crawford about it, he said it wasn’t Stec’s place to “air someone’s dirty laundry in that way.”
Miller: You have made several trips to Crook County to talk with queer people who are living there through all of this. What was that like?
Auden Land: You know, I wanted to find out how queer people live in this community outside of politics. I feel like sometimes when you’re doing stories like this, you only hear about the controversies, but we don’t talk about how people live in these communities on a daily basis and what’s that like for them? And in this story, I spoke with a librarian, a retired school teacher and a student at Crook County High School. And in some instances, we’re only using first names here out of some concerns for their safety and we can listen to their stories now, in their own words for the next five minutes.
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Katie Fisher: My name is Katie Fisher and my age is 26. My pronouns are they/them. I have been in Prineville for about a year and a half, two years now. But my relationship with how the town views LGBTQ+ matters definitely is impacted by my work at the library. So my job at the library is teen services librarian. So basically I put on programs for teens in the county and that include outreach programming. And then I manage the teen collection. I manage the teen room. Inevitably I will get teens asking about, you know, hey, I might get kicked out if I come out to my parents, I don’t know what to do or, you know, I don’t feel safe or I have to stay closeted because I know that if I come out X, Y and Z will happen and it will suck. There are not a lot of resources I can point them towards. Unfortunately, it’s more of just “I’m sorry you’re going through that. You know, I’m here. If you need to chat.” I wish it wasn’t assumed that Prineville isn’t queer or doesn’t have queer people in it. I feel like that might be nice for just a reminder that you’re not alone.
Gary: I’ve sometimes told people that I’ve lived here for so long that when I first came to town, the streets were still made of dirt. My name is Gary. When I first came to Prineville, I didn’t think that there would be many people here who were queer. But then after I had been here for a while, there were a few people that I thought maybe. For instance, there was a group called High Desert Island. There were people who would go to a place that was called The Funny Farm. It was like a makeshift gay bar and they would have dances and get-togethers there and social events. I remember being there in the dead of winter when it was probably below zero and they were trying to keep heat in the building. It was bitterly cold. It probably would have helped to have been dancing more to get out, our body heat increased.
It did feel like we needed to be guarded. I can’t say that I was a risk taker
because I needed to be cautious because of my employment. And that’s always unfortunate that you might, back then, be concerned about maybe losing your job because of your preferences. I have considered leaving the area since I’ve been retired. But I don’t know where I would go because I like it here. It’s quiet, the people are friendly. We have become more progressive. There’s growth in every direction. My experience with this town has been generally uplifting and there are wonderful people here.
Eledy: I wouldn’t say I would want to stay here for very long after I graduate high school. My name is Eledy and I am 16 years old. I am a transfem as kids would say. I pretty much don’t really do anything. The only afterschool thing I do is drama. When we did “Aladdin,” I was Iago and when we did “Little Mermaid,” I was Chef Louie. I have always been a secondary villain who’s very much goofy and weird. It’s the only time where I don’t stumble over my words and I’m not as awkward all the time because I can be someone else, I guess.
I had thought that Gen Z were in the forefront of being pro-queer. But the more I’ve actually talked to them, the more I’ve realized that that’s not the case. For a while. Each new grade was better about these kinds of things, but now it seems like there’s been a backslide and it’s less focused on gay people and lesbians and bisexuals. It’s pretty much focused on trans people now which isn’t really shocking, but it’s really sad to see. I’ve increasingly felt like I have zero patience for people who are ignorant in that way because, sure, ignorance isn’t always someone’s fault, but there’s no way they don’t know that what they’re saying is controversial and it seems like they just choose to ignore it for whatever reason. There’s a lot of nerves and especially with all the stuff that’s happening in the country right now. If this all continues to go this way, then I might be in danger and my friends might be in danger as well.
Miller: That piece was reported and produced by Central Oregon reporter Joni Auden Land, who is still with me. I’m curious, Joni, before we go, what most stayed with you from this reporting?
Auden Land: I guess just how much these people love their community, kind of all of them, even if they do in some cases want to leave. I think there’s a stereotype about queer people in rural areas. You know you’re a queer kid who realizes who they are and can’t wait to leave their hostile town for a more welcoming city. And these interviews and reporting on this kind of show that it’s far more complicated than that. Sometimes when someone leaves, it’s not just because they don’t like a place but because they feel like they don’t have a choice and in some cases they never leave at all.
Miller: Joni, thanks very much.
Auden Land: Thank you.
Miller: Joni Auden Land is OPB’s Central Oregon reporter.
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