DAMN THESE PEOPLE

Germans crowd around a truck filled with "un-German" books, confiscated from the library of the Institute for Sexual Science, for burning by the Nazis. The books were publically burned at Berlin's Opernplatz (Opera Square). Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.

Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels (at podium) praises students and members of the SA for their efforts to destroy books deemed "un-German" during the book burning at Berlin's Opernplatz (opera square). Germany, May 10, 1933.

At Berlin's Opernplatz, crowds of German students and members of the SA gather for the burning of books deemed "un-German." Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.

Look at those photos. That event took place on May 10, 1933. That was FOUR MONTHS after Hitler took power in Germany as Reich Chancellor; SIX WEEKS after passage of the Enabling Act by the Reichstag on March 23, 1933, which gave the Nazis full power in Germany; Dachau, the first concentration camp for political prisoners, was created the day before that.

This past week, the estimable Jamelle Bouie wrote in his NYT column (you should subscribe to his newsletter):

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve gotten a pretty good idea of what Donald Trump would do if given a second chance in the White House. And it is neither exaggeration nor hyperbole to say that it looks an awful lot like a set of plans meant to give the former president the power and unchecked authority of a strongman.”

Look at those photos again. That is what the “unchecked authority of a strongman” is all about.

Pastor Niemöller’s famous poem begins with the Nazis coming after the trade unionists. The Nazis occupied trade union headquarters throughout Germany, confiscated their funds, officially abolished the unions and arrested their leaders on May 2, 1933, a week before the book burning.

But the first social group they really went after was the trans community, followed by gays and lesbians. That first public book burning ceremony was of books taken from the Institute for Sexual Science, which was an advocate of the gay community. Those were the first books declared “un-German.”

May 10, 1933 was 16 months before they criminalized being Jewish in the Nuremberg Laws, which were not promulgated until September 15, 1935.

The news is now out about “The 2025 Project,” to set up 58,000 pre-vetted “true believers” to take over the government within the first 30 days after Trump is inaugurated on January 20, 2025; “Project 47,” is a similar plan run directly by the Trump campaign. Even the mainstream media has been forced to take notice and become Officially Concerned.

We are seeing the early indicators of what America might look like if MAGA were to seize all the federal levers of power.

There has been the news this week that they plan to resuscitate the Comstock Act to make it illegal to send abortion drugs and the birth control pill through the mail.

They are already taking steps to declare that gay people should be back in the closet or dead.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee has criminalized being gay in public. Their new law is not about having gay sex in public - it’s about just being gay in public; any expression of affection between two gay people is now illegal.

The law Murfreesboro passed this past June bans “indecent behavior,” including “indecent exposure, public indecency, lewd behavior, nudity or sexual conduct.” The ordinance specifically mentions Section 21-72 of the city code.” Specifically:

“‘Minor’ means any person under the age of 17 years. ‘Nudity’ means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

"’Sexual conduct’ means acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, breast.

Where does “homosexuality” come into play? The city ordinance includes “homosexuality” as sexual conduct - specific acts are not defined.

Basically, in other words, if Jurate and I had gone to Murfreesboro with my childhood best friend and his male partner, and had I patted her on her posterior, no crime would have been committed; had David touched Fred in such a manner, they would have violated this law.

The law does not ban kissing, or hand holding, it bans “homosexuality.” A distinction is thus made allowing for heterosexual affection, as opposed to such activity by a gay couple.

Anyone in Murfreesboro who violates the new ordinance is barred from hosting public events or selling goods and services at public events for two years. Anyone who violates the ordinance “in the presence of minors” is barred from such activities for five years.

While the ACLU has launched a legal challenge to the ordinance, city officials have already taken steps to implement the new law.

Last Monday, the Rutherford County steering committee met to discuss removing all books that might potentially violate the ordinance from the public library.

The first thing they did with their new law was go after books. Just like the Nazis did in 1933.

The resolution has been met with widespread outcry from city residents.

Murfreesboro city officials used the ordinance to ban four books that discuss LGBTQ themes. In August, the county library board pulled the books “Flamer,” “Let’s Talk About It,” “Queerfully and Wonderfully Made,” and “This Book Is Gay.”

The first books banned deal with the subject of homosexuality. Look at those photos above again.

The county library board has also implemented a new library card system categorizing books into certain age groups. When it takes effect next year, children and teenagers will only be able to check out books that correspond to their age group; they will need permission from a parent or guardian to check out “adult” books.

Rutherford County Public Library director Rita Shacklett stated when the four books were banned in August and the proposed new library card system would prevent students from accessing books they need for a class, explaining to the board that many classic high school books, such as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” are now classified as “adult.”

This kind of action does not affect only gay people. Had such an ordinance been in effect in Denver when I was ten years old, I would not have been allowed to walk around the corner from the boring Young Adult book section of the Eugene Field Public Library, and discover “Foundation,” “Foundation and Empire,” and “Second Foundation,” and take them home to read. The Foundation Trilogy is full of subject matter the Rutherford County Library Board would not want a young person reading about: a warning against anti-intellectualism, a successful battle against religious oppression, a warning of the rise of a dictator who would overthrow society. Such a rule would have prevented my checking out and reading Alan Bullock’s “Hitler: A Study In Tyranny” when I was 14. I can come up with an very long list of books I read by the time I graduated from high school that these morons would “look askance” at. (Fortunately, my father had already “given permission” by allowing me to use his “adult card” since he had grown tired of going to the library every week to let me get three books - the adult card allowed ten.)

All of this is geared to erase discussion of what small minded and toxically ignorant Americans can’t either tolerate or understand, just as was done in Germany in 1933.

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