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Alabama library critic led defamatory campaign in Missouri, lawsuit claims

Homolak has brought her fight against LGBTQ representation in libraries to Alabama, particularly in the Huntsville area.

Rachel Homolak dresses in drag to complain against a librarian in St. Charles County, Missouri.
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A 133-page lawsuit filed in St. Charles County, Missouri last week details how Rachel Homolak led a campaign against a transgender librarian there over their clothing choices.

Homolak spent months calling Danny Roberson a “pervert” and implicating that they posed a danger to children through constant social media criticism and in-person comments at public meetings.

Homolak is now bringing the same kind of tactics to Alabama, appearing most frequently at Huntsville library meetings as well as Limestone County meetings, where she now lives.

Her antics in Missouri have been well-documented, drawing the attention of numerous news outlets, most notably her appearance at a public meeting in drag. The lawsuit alleges Homolak often exaggerated Roberson’s choice of clothing in the library.

According to the lawsuit, it all began a year ago Friday, when Homolak entered the Kathryn Linneman branch of the St. Charles City-County Library and saw Roberson behind the children’s desk.

Homolak called the library CEO to complain about Roberson’s appearance, and unsatisfied with the call, arranged a one-on-one meeting to further discuss her complaints.

But Homolak posted on social media asking protestors to join her for the meeting, leading the meeting to ultimately be canceled. The social media posts included a graphic designed by a defendant referred to as “JW” insinuating that Roberson was a “groomer.”

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Similar tactics have been used in Alabama by groups such as Clean Up Alabama, Eagle Forum and Moms for Liberty, which have called librarians groomers and stated that librarians and public officials have distributed pornography to children.

The lawsuit continues to detail a pervasive campaign against Roberson and the library, with Homolak even leveraging her popular Bluey Memes Facebook group to spread her messaging.

“SHOULD CROSSDRESSING MEN RUN THE CHILDREN’S SECTION OF THE LIBRARY??? The answer is NO!” Homolak posted to the meme group dedicated to the popular Australian kids show, with a video of the St. Charles City-County Council meeting she had spoken at.

According to the lawsuit, Homolak’s actions may have been spurred by a far-right church Grace Church St. Louis.

The suit details a March 2023 sermon preached by the senior pastor Ron Tucker there entitled “real Christianity in a woke culture,” which called on congregants to board meetings and oppose those in the “LGBT crowd.”

The lawsuit claims Homolak heard that sermon, along with other defendants named in the suit.

Just last month, the attacks on Roberson’s character nearly spurned a physical altercation, the suit claims, when a man showed up at the library to provoke Roberson into a fight.

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“Library staff asked this community member why he wanted to speak with Plaintiff to which he replied he wanted to verbally antagonize Plaintiff to the point where Plaintiff would take a ‘swing’ at him,” the suit states. “The community member continued that he wanted to push Plaintiff to a point where she initiated physical contact so he could then ‘punch (Roberson) in the face.’”

Court records show Homolak has not yet been served with a summons in the case. 

It’s unclear exactly when Homolak moved from Missouri to the Huntsville area, but she has appeared at numerous meetings in the state already including the Alabama Public Library Service public hearing over changes to the state administrative code.

While there, she once again told the story of “Danny the drag librarian” to a room full of more than 100 people.

Jacob Holmes is a reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter. You can reach him at jholmes@alreporter.com

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