DAVIS, Calif. — Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from Yolo County.
The Yolo County chapter of the conservative, parental rights group Moms for Liberty is suing Yolo County and two library officials. They say a county employee violated their First Amendment right to free speech.
It all stems from an incident that happened Sunday, Aug. 20 when a library official shut down a meeting held by Moms for Liberty at the Mary L. Stephens Library in Davis.
The group was in one of the meeting rooms available for public use and holding an informational forum opposing transgender girls and women on female sports teams.
Former college athlete Sophia Lorey spoke at the event. She is outreach director for the California Family Council.
“When I was 10-years-old, all I wanted to be was a college soccer player,” Lorey told ABC10. “But my heart breaks because current 10-year-old girls cannot achieve the same goals as long as men are playing in women's sports. By saying that statement, I was heckled by the some of the protesters in the crowd, as well as the librarian then threatened to shut down the event. And then he eventually did shut it down.”
Because Lorey repeatedly referred to trans women as “men” or “biological men,” her use of misgendering language prompted library official D. Scott Love to end the meeting.
“I will give you one warning on that,” Love is seen saying from the back of the room in a cellphone video. Later, as Lorey continued using misgendering language, he said, “I’m asking you to leave.”
Now, Lorey and Moms for Liberty are suing the county, Yolo County Librarian Diana Lopez and West Yolo County Library Regional Manager D. Scott Love, saying they violated their right to free speech.
“During this event, my First Amendment right was violated by a government official. And no matter if you disagree with me or agree with me, we have the right to speak, we have our freedom of speech, and I want anyone to be able to use that and not get shut down,” Lorey said.
Logan Spena is an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom and is representing Lorey and Moms for Liberty in this lawsuit, which was filed Monday.
“We'll go the distance because this is important for everyone,” Spena told ABC10. “The library can't pick and choose who's allowed to speak and who's not just based on the viewpoint.”
Anoosh Jorjorian is chair of the Davis Phoenix Coalition and works with LGBTQ+ youth in the community.
“I think the library is in a very difficult position,” they said. “We do have free speech rights. At the same time, it is a space that is supposed to be open to the public, and therefore welcoming to everyone in the community.”
They said Moms for Liberty’s opposition to trans girls and women on female sports teams — plus other public positions the group has taken opposing trans inclusion — is harmful.
“It seems that this small, discriminatory minority is the loudest and is getting the most attention. Here in Yolo County, the majority stands very firmly on the side of inclusion and belonging,” they said. “In October, we had a ‘Yolo County is for Everyone’ rally that brought 400 to 500 people out to Davis' Central Park.”
ABC10 reached out to the Yolo County spokesperson throughout the day Tuesday and left multiple messages. ABC10 also reached out to the Yolo County Library leadership. Nobody with the county had responded by Tuesday night.
Yolo County spokesperson Dwight Coddington responded to ABC10 Thursday afternoon saying, "Thank you for your inquiry, we appreciate the importance of transparency and open communication. However, we cannot comment on pending litigation. We understand the public's interest in the matter, and we are committed to addressing concerns at the appropriate time. We assure you that we take these matters seriously. For updates or official statements related to this case, we encourage you to refer to our official press releases."
The county now has about three weeks to file a response to the lawsuit.
Mark Reichel is a Sacramento attorney unaffiliated with this case. ABC10 spoke with him back in August after the library ended the meeting.
“According to the Constitution, according to the Supreme Court, a library is where you get access to information. It's not necessarily a public meeting place, so they can have reasonable regulations. You can't have people coming in there without clothes on. You can't have people sleeping in there. You can't have anything that harasses others,” Reichel said. “Viewpoint is often not something that you can regulate and consider that to be reasonable unless it's deemed harassing to others.”
