The battle over Largo's library reached a boiling point this week.
Florida State Representative Berny Jacques isn't backing down from his fight.
And a Florida State Representative slammed this Largo commissioner with one demand that sent shockwaves through the city.
Jacques targets appointment of activist to library board
Florida State Rep. Berny Jacques escalated his ongoing war with the Largo Public Library by demanding that City Commissioner Curtis Holmes withdraw a proposed appointment to the Library Advocacy Board.¹
The appointee in question is Eric Gerard, a retired advertising executive who previously served as vice chair of the city's Planning Board and spent nearly a decade on the Greater Largo Library Foundation board.²
Jacques has every reason to be concerned.
Gerard co-organized the local "No Kings Rally," a radical leftist protest movement that drew anti-Trump activists to the streets in June and October 2025.³
The rallies attacked Trump's common-sense policies on immigration enforcement and border security while protesters dressed in costumes and waved signs comparing the President to a king.⁴
Even more troubling, Gerard previously fought to keep an inappropriate book in the library's children's section during a 2023 complaint review.⁵
The book in question was If You're a Drag Queen and You Know It by drag performer Lil Miss Hot Mess.⁶
Any parent can see why this material doesn't belong in a children's section.
But Gerard and the Library Advocacy Board voted to keep the book exactly where it was.⁷
Library director Casey McPhee defended the decision by claiming "the library collection should be reflective of the community" and that the library "cannot discriminate against others who do have an interest in this material."⁸
That's the problem right there.
Libraries aren't supposed to push sexual content on children in the name of "inclusion."
Parents have the right to decide when their kids are exposed to mature themes, not government bureaucrats pushing a woke agenda.
Jacques warns Gerard appointment would undermine recent reforms
Jacques directed his appeal specifically to Commissioner Curtis Holmes, urging him to correct what Jacques called an "unfortunate lapse" and stop the appointment before Tuesday evening's city commission meeting.⁹
"I recently worked with the city to give this board more powers to remove inappropriate books, and some commissioners (Johnson and DiBrizzi) appointed new board members who will do the job well," Jacques said.¹⁰
"The Gerard appointment will go against everything we worked so hard for," he added.¹¹
Jacques isn't backing down from his fight to protect children.
Back in March, Jacques sent a letter to Mayor Woody Brown after discovering the library was actively promoting "radical gender and sexual ideology" to children.¹²
Jacques documented "LGBTQIA+ picture books, trans and nonbinary pamphlets, pride flags, and sexual identity displays in youth areas."¹³
"This is indoctrination," Jacques declared, and he was absolutely right.¹⁴
Taxpayer-funded institutions shouldn't be platforms for activist ideology targeting children.
Mayor Brown tried to deflect by claiming the materials weren't in the children's area but in the teen room for ages 13 and up.¹⁵
But that misses the entire point.
Thirteen-year-olds are still children who deserve protection from adult sexual content, not exposure to it courtesy of their local library.¹⁶
Brown also noted that teenagers put up the Pride flag themselves, not library staff.¹⁷
That doesn't make it better — it shows the library created an environment where this activism flourishes unchecked.
Jacques made clear he would "not support any state funding for the Largo Public Library" until officials remove inappropriate sexual content from areas accessible to minors.¹⁸
His "support of any future state appropriations to the City of Largo will be conditioned on the complete removal of sexual identity materials, displays, and programming from the library's children section."¹⁹
That's called using the power of the purse to protect children — exactly what state representatives should be doing.
Jacques pointed to Pinellas County Commissioner Vince Nowicki's resolution targeting similar problems at the Palm Harbor Library as the right approach.²⁰
Vocal activists don't speak for most parents
After Jacques' letter, the usual suspects showed up at an April city commission meeting to defend the library's woke policies.²¹
Activist groups like PFLAG organized supporters to pack the meeting and create the appearance of community backing.
A 14-year-old was even trotted out to tell commissioners "Everyone is always welcome and safe."²²
Of course kids feel welcome when adults are pushing ideology that tells them everything they feel is valid and celebrated.
PFLAG Safety Harbor praised Mayor Brown and the commission for their "unwavering dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion."²³
But Jacques knows better than to be swayed by organized activist pressure campaigns.
When asked about the shows of support at the commission meeting, Jacques correctly pointed out there's a "silent majority" that backs his position.²⁴
"I'm not deterred by the naysayers or those on the other side of this because I believe in this issue," Jacques stated.²⁵
Most parents don't have time to take off work and show up at city commission meetings to fight back against the woke activists who do this for a living.
But that doesn't mean they support exposing their children to inappropriate sexual content at the library.
Jacques tried to prove his point by submitting a public records request for complaints to the library mentioning "pride month," "LGBT materials," and "DEI."²⁶
The library claimed only five complaints since January required official review.²⁷
But that's misleading.
Most parents who discover inappropriate material simply stop taking their kids to the library.
They don't file formal complaints with bureaucrats who already made clear they won't do anything about it anyway.
The low complaint numbers just show that parents have given up trying to work within a rigged system that prioritizes activist ideology over child safety.
Now Jacques is fighting to stop Gerard's appointment before this radical leftist can rubber-stamp even more inappropriate content for children.
The city commission will vote Tuesday evening on Gerard's appointment.
Commissioner Holmes needs to do the right thing and withdraw this disastrous nomination before it's too late.
¹ Michelle Vecerina, "Rep. Berny Jacques calls on Largo commissioner to withdraw 'radical leftist' appointment to library board," Florida News, November 4, 2025.
² Janelle Irwin Taylor, "Eric Gerard, husband of Pat Gerard, raises 15 times more than incumbent Largo opponent," Florida Politics, March 10, 2020.
³ "Another nationwide day of protest is happening this weekend. Here's what we know about No Kings 2," CNN, October 17, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Vecerina, "Rep. Berny Jacques calls on Largo commissioner."
⁶ "How a Tampa Bay city is fighting GOP attacks over LGBTQ+ library materials," Axios Tampa Bay, April 23, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Vecerina, "Rep. Berny Jacques calls on Largo commissioner."
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² "Rep. Berny Jacques slams Largo library, threatens funding cut over children's materials, Mayor Brown responds," Florida Voice News, March 24, 2025.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ "Largo stands by library's LGBTQ+ content after attacks," Watermark Out News, April 3, 2025.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ "GOP officials target LGBTQ+ displays in Largo, Palm Harbor library," Axios Tampa Bay, March 25, 2025.
¹⁹ Florida Voice News, "Rep. Berny Jacques slams Largo library."
²⁰ Ibid.
²¹ "How a Tampa Bay city is fighting GOP attacks," Axios Tampa Bay.
²² Ibid.
²³ Watermark Out News, "Largo stands by library's LGBTQ+ content."
²⁴ Axios Tampa Bay, "How a Tampa Bay city is fighting GOP attacks."
²⁵ Ibid.
²⁶ Ibid.
²⁷ Ibid.
