SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Conservative activist and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines was appointed to the Sumner County Library Board Monday evening.

Sumner County Commissioner Jeremy Mansfield reported Gaines was added to fill one of two vacancies as the board voted to keep its number of members to nine.

Gaines posted on social media "Tennessee banned tax dollars from funding woke gender ideology, but my own county’s library board is ignoring it. These books (and others) were challenged by concerned parents in February, but to no prevail. Remove this filth from our libraries!" along with images of books about gender identity.

"Currently, there are 9 positions on the board. 1 has been empty for several months. The commission and the committee on committees refuses to fill it. So there are 8 people. 4 conservatives and 4 non conservative. The non conservative members are either liberal, democrat, or RINOs. If they show up to a meeting they will be forced to vote for or against this policy that removes trans ideological books from the children’s section per state and federal law. They do not want to go on record for voting no. It would ruin their reputation. This is why they are always absent from the meetings. They are waiting until the chairman (Joanna Daniels’) term is up in November. That way they can reduce the number on the board to 7 which will give the nonconservative members the majority making this policy go away, never to be voted on," Gaines added on social media.

In August, the Sumner County Library Board again rejected a ban on transgender-themed books The controversy began in May when the board tabled the first proposal to remove the books.

Last week, the policy was back on the agenda, but half of the eight board members did not attend the meeting. Without a quorum, a vote was not allowed.

Gaines is from Nashville and currently lives in Sumner County. She became an activist after she lost a competition to an openly trans woman in 2022.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/riley-gaines-sumner-county-library-board/