Public urged to support Cork library workers abused over LGBT+ reading material

Library staff are set to march from Grand Parade to City Hall at 12.30pm on Friday

Staff at the Cork city library have been confronted, and subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation on several occasions in recent months by people opposed to the display of certain LBGTQI+ reading material. Picture: Denis Minihane

The public has been urged to stand in solidarity with Cork library workers facing intimidation at work over LGBT+ reading material amid fears of a far-right counter protest in the city centre on Friday.

The trade union Fórsa has organised a solidarity protest in support of Cork library workers outside the city’s central library on Grand Parade from 12.30pm on Friday, before then marching to City Hall.

Fórsa’s head of local authorities Richy Carrothers urged people to support the protest and said improved protections for library staff against the growing threat of harassment and intimidation by anti-LGBTQ+ protesters must be implemented urgently.

“Our members are at risk in their place of work,” he said.

We have asked local authorities to undertake an immediate health and safety risk assessment of public libraries, and the threat posed by such protesters at libraries.

“Harassment must not be tolerated, and Cork City Council must act to discharge their responsibilities as an employer under health and safety legislation."

Public library workers “should be applauded — not abused”, he said.

“Libraries represent community hubs for social integration, serving as centres of cultural, educational, and academic learning, and must be places free from harassment and intimidation for both staff and library users,” he said.

“It’s important that we act in solidarity to our fellow members and show these groups that harassment will not be tolerated."

Verbal abuse

Staff at the Cork city library have been confronted in their place of work, and subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation on several occasions in recent months by people opposed to the display of certain LBGTQI+ reading material.

A group entered the library in February and ripped up a copy of This Book is Gay by trans author Juno Dawson, and posted the video online.

The protests have continued and last week, some staff on the public counter at the library withdrew their services after they were confronted again by a number of agitators who entered the building carrying mobile phones in an attempt to record the interaction while criticising the library service for displaying certain LGBTQI+ reading material.

A number of those involved in the organisation, and taking a lead in these confrontations of library staff have also confronted pharmacy staff in their place of work over the covid-19 vaccine, and they have also protested over the housing of international protection applicants at various sites around the country.