A small town library's Christmas tree became the focus of woke outrage

I’m not saying there’s a war on Christmas but at least in this one town in Massachusetts there certainly was a battle over a public Christmas tree. This happened in Dedham, Mass., population 25,000. Back on December 2nd, librarian Lisa Desmond posted a comment on Facebook saying that a decision had been made not to put up a tree this year because unidentified people were “uncomfortable” with it.

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I found out today that my beautiful library will not have it’s Christmas tree this year. Zero explanation. When I asked, I was told “people “ were made uncomfortable last year looking at it. I’m sorry WHAT? In my 28 years at the Dedham Public Library, I have never heard a negative comment…

Those who know me know I lead with positive intentions.

I’m not feeling very positive today.

Please bring Christmas back to my beautiful library. And always lead with love in your heart.
Rant over.

That post got some local attention and even some attention beyond Dedham. But a few days later a member of the Dedham Human Rights Committee named Diane Loud posted a truly unhinged rant in response. Lisa Desmond, the librarian, highlighted it and noted that she had called the police.

You can read the whole thing above but here’s a bit of it:

Lisa Desmond: F**K YOU. You knew what you were doing. You spent days batting aside the people who asked you to ratchet this back. “Everyone will tell you I’m the most inclusive person ever!” Everyone will tell me that you are a selfish f**king b**** who does not care about anyone but herself. For a tree? For a motherf***ing TREE? You have put people’s lives in a lot of danger. A LOT of danger. For a motherf***ing Christmas tree…

I hope this is worth it. All. I hope the fact that you— who claim to believe in Christ and Christmas or whatever happy horseshit you’re trying to hide behind— are the least gracious, most hateful, most disgusting trash in the world. Is this what you think your magic sky daddy wants? Where in the Bible was this again?

In closing I would like to add a final round of F**K YOU, YOU PIECES OF TRASH. I hate each and every one of you and I do wish great suffering on you. You are terrible, terrible people.

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Shortly after this was posted an announcement was made that Loud had stepped down. As of today, the post announcing the decision doesn’t seem to be available on Facebook but Loud is no longer listed as a member of the Committee on the group’s website:

statement from the Commission on Dec. 6 read in part: “HRC Member Diane Loud has stepped down from her position on the Dedham Human Rights Commission. We sincerely appreciate Diane’s service and look forward to working with the Commission on Disabilities to find a representative to take her place.”

As of Dec. 11, however, Loud was still listed on the HRC website as a member.

Earlier this year, Loud took part in an LGBT pride event hosted by the town and the Commission, along with her grown child Max, who “discovered his transgender identity at the age of 13,” according to local media.

So Diane sounds like exactly who you would imagine her to be and her hate and rage toward the part of the community (probably a large majority) that still enjoys Christmas and is not offended by the sight of a Christmas tree is pretty plain. To be clear, I’m sure that majority includes a lot of gay residents who don’t see a Christmas as threatening.

The town released a statement last week which decried online threats didn’t single anyone out or mention some of the threats had come from a member of their own Human Rights committee.

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The Town of Dedham stands in support of all town staff targeted by recent online threats and bullying. Unfortunately, a recent social media post expressing disagreement with the decision to display a holiday tree at the library has quickly evolved into a polarized environment and has led to the harassment and bullying of town employees. We wholeheartedly condemn this behavior as it tears at the fabric of our community and cannot be tolerated.

We continue to encourage constructive conversations and healthy debates, but because of social media and outside sources, what could have been something of legitimate discourse turned neighbor against neighbor, and has threatened the safety and well-being of community members and staff. This behavior is not a true reflection of our commitment to lead with kindness and civility.

Today, the town released another statement reversing course on putting up a Christmas tree at the library, though they seem to be leaving themselves some leeway for next year.

At the Dedham Public Library we do our best to respect the wide variety of viewpoints and beliefs in our community, including those who choose to celebrate Christmas and other winter holidays. To be clear, there is no ban on Christmas at the Dedham library.

The initial decision to not display a Christmas tree was the result of an ongoing review of all our holiday decorations and displays that started back in the spring. What has played out on social media is unfortunate, it has negatively impacted our staff and the community, and frankly, transpired before we had even started our seasonal decorating. As we finish decorating for this holiday season, Christmas trees will be put up at both locations.

Moving forward, we will continue to review decorations and displays to ensure they are welcoming, enriching, and reflective of our entire community. I want to acknowledge the members of the public that have reached out to share their views. We will work to improve communication with community members and invite them to attend Board of Library Trustee meetings where open dialogue can take place.

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The fact that decorating hadn’t started yet is irrelevant. The decision to ditch Christmas because of some vague complaints by a tiny minority of residents had been made. That’s what mattered.

Finally, I’ll just note that this incident may be in one relatively small town in one state but it follows a pattern we’ve seen play out a lot over the last few years. The woke want to make changes that impact the public without consulting the public, including pulling down statues and renaming schools. When the public dares to push back the woke are outraged and frequently claim lives are in danger unless their will is heeded. They don’t want to talk about it or debate it, they just want obedience to their decisions.

And as you can see, when they don’t get it they are filled with rage and hate. We’ve seen a lot of that over the past few years as well.

Here’s a local news report from last week.

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