<div>Should prepubescent children have unrestricted access to books which contain overly graphic and explicit sexual content? Some librarians in Livingston Parish have decided that they should and, now, a concerned father in the community is being sued for taking a stance against the government. No one should be attacked for speaking up in an effort to protect the children in their community. No one should be attacked for standing up for their right to speak out against government officials advocating to keep books which contain explicit and illicit sexual wording and imagery in a section of the library within the reach of and intended for young children. This same book content had to be redacted to be shown in a local news article, and posting screenshots of the pages resulted in 30 day bans on Facebook due to inappropriate sexual content.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This GoFundMe campaign is raising defense funds for Ryan Thames, the father who spoke out about the location of certain books in the Livingston Parish Library system. Thames was subsequently verbally attacked and threatened by members of extreme leftist groups, and he has recently become the target of a lawsuit.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Contrary to the outright lies that have been set forth, this battle is not about banning books, censorship, or LBGTQ+ rights. What began simply as a request to discuss moving books to a different section in the library has become a battle about our rights as citizens to stand up to government officials who are trying to silence us in this era of “cancel culture”.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are asking anyone who has any concerns whatsoever about this matter to JUST LOOK at some of the books in question.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>•	<a href="https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/two.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/two.jpg" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/two.jpg</a></a>
</div>
<div>•	<a href="https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/three.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/three.jpg" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/three.jpg</a></a>
</div>
<div>•	<a href="https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/four.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/four.jpg" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://assets.newlouisiana.org/livingston/library/four.jpg</a></a>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is absolutely not a case of small town, backwoods idiots opposing any type of sexual education. These books contain graphic instructions on fellatio, cunnilingus, masturbation -including suggestions on using sexual “toys”, anal sex, encountering fecal matter, etc. In 2022, most all will agree that sexual education is important, but instructions on using “butt plugs” is not the appropriate education for eleven-year-olds. If any parent decides that this is the proper way in which to educate their child, then that parent would of course have the right to check the book out from an appropriate section of the library. No one, including Thames, ever suggested even attempting to do anything other than simply moving the books to a more appropriate area.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>A campaign for Amanda Jones, a government librarian who passionately advocated for not moving the books in question to an appropriate section of the library, has already raised tens of thousands of dollars by using the FALSE CLAIMS that she was fighting book banning and censorship. She even stooped to playing the race card and using our LGBTQ+ community to fuel her false claims. The fact is that Thames NEVER called for book banning or censorship or directed anything towards race or gender identity - he merely advocated that the books be moved to a section where children wouldn’t unwittingly stumble upon them.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Interestingly enough, members of the LGBTQ+ community have spoken out about not wanting to be used by Jones to further her agenda and maintain that she is making them “look like deviants who want these ‘sex manuals’ around kids.” In their words - “stop using our names to push your agenda - it is not censorship to keep porn out of the hands of children.”
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The main book that has been discussed includes detailed instructions for boys on how to perform vaginal oral sex, including the advice not to “complain about the taste or smell”. This is clearly not targeting any racial or LGBTQ+ community, and it has been maintained from the start that this was never the intention. The accusations of book banning and “homophobia” are complete sensationalist tactics designed to elicit an emotional response and further an extremist agenda, but it is simply not true.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Jones and her supporters are using this situation to further an agenda. People have donated tens of thousands of dollars to her based upon the fraudulent claim that she is fighting a battle for the LGBTQ+ community against censorship and book banning. She and her supporters are using her position as a librarian as a shield to protect against any opposing views. No one is immune to criticism solely because of their occupation – if you abuse your position or make a serious error in judgment, it is the citizen’s right and responsibility to speak up against such abuse.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are in the midst of a calculated scheme whose goal is to completely shut down every voice who speaks out in opposition. The message Jones is sending to taxpayers who fund her pay is, “don’t you DARE question MY authority.” If you DARE to speak up, you will pay. But we know that the First Amendment protects our right to speak out against all government officials and agencies - which includes librarians on our taxpayers’ government payroll.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>By initiating this suit against Thames based upon false claims, Jones is attempting to intimidate and silence his rights to voice concerns as a well-meaning citizen. Thus, Thames finds himself unjustly thrust into a legal farce, merely for exercising his constitutional right to speak out against those who abuse their government position and power.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Our children must be protected and we must hold dearly our right to do so by defending our right to speak up on their behalf. Please support this fight against abuse and tyranny. Please, consider contributing to help us send the clear message that WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Any funds over the amount needed for legal defense will be donated to child abuse and advocacy groups including Mighty Moms <a href="https://www.mightymomsgo.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.mightymomsgo.org/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.mightymomsgo.org/</a></a>
</div>

Anonymous

Roslyn Vallo Bergeron

Jack Lavergne

Connie Phillips

Kellie Alford

Jill Hines

Tamera Kleinpeter

George Crowdus

Garry Talbert

Joseph Pitre

Brad Stephens

Melissa Jones

Christian Facundus

Jamie Pope

Legal Fees for Ryan Thames

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Legal Fees for Ryan Thames

Still $37,980 to go. Help us build momentum.