The Warren County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-1 in favor of defunding the Samuels Public Library in Front Royal after some residents complained about certain books in the library.

“The library is a nonprofit overseen by a board of trustees, but it counts on the county for about 70 percent of its operating budget.” NBC Washington reported. “The board has been trying to gain more control over the library after some residents complained about certain books in the collection.”

The Winchester Star in 2023 reported a wide-array of books with queer themes have been targeted by those who wish to remove stories about LGBTQ families and people. They have sought to ban children who frequent the library, which is more than 200 years old, from reading them.

Some of the books targeted were “Over the Shop” by JonArno Lawson, “Pride Colors” by Robin Stevenson, “Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle” by Nina LaCour, “Plenty of Hugs” by Fran Manushkin, “I Love You Because I Love You,” by Muon Thi Van, and “Bathe the Cat” by Alice B. McGinty. 

“Samuels Public Library serves more than 41,000 people in the County of Warren.” according to the library’s website. “In the last fiscal year, the Library had more than 127,000 visitors, over 400,000 checkouts, and hosted 542 programs that saw 19,194 attendees.”

Virginia’s largest student-led LGBTQ rights group on Monday announced it will protest school board meetings across the state in response to the rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from the Trump-Vance administration 

“Since taking office, the Trump-Musk administration has unleashed a barrage of attacks against LGBTQIA+ students,” said Conifer Selintung of the Pride Liberation Project in a statement. “They have attacked discrimination protections in Title IX, targeted transgender athletes, attempted to strip funding for life-saving gender affirming care, and tried to whitewash history. The Trump-Musk administration’s obsession with queer young people is already impacting our lives. Defying medical consensus, multiple hospitals suspended gender affirming care last month.”

The Pride Liberation Project press release included statements from students across Virginia.

“These executive orders are attacking our communities instead of focusing on the real issues in our schools,” said Red O’Brien, a Virginia Beach junior who is planning to rally at their school board meeting.

“I’m an adult–it’s crazy and invasive that legislators can stop me from getting lifesaving healthcare,” said Everest Clauberg, a Virginia Commonwealth University student who receives gender-affirming care from VCU Endocrinology.

VCU Children’s Hospital of Richmond on Feb. 25 announced it would resume gender-affirming care for existing patients as deemed appropriate.

The Pride Liberation Project in recent years has organized more than 90 student-led protests across Virginia.

The Virginia General Assembly’s 2025 legislative session ended on Saturday with two LGBTQ rights bills awaiting Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s signature.

The first bill would amend the state’s definition of marriage to include members of the LGBTQ community. SJ 249, also known as the Constitutional Amendment; Marriage between Two Adult Persons, would change the state’s definition of marriage to “between two adult persons” rather than “a union between one man and one woman.”

This amendment would repeal the definition of marriage in Virginia, updating it to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country. This amendment would also enshrine marriage rights for same-sex couples in Virginia, ensuring that only another constitutional amendment or law that a majority of state lawmakers approve, can change it again.

Same-sex couples would have the same legal rights — tax breaks, inheritance rights, and Social Security benefits — in Virginia, even if Obergefell were to be overturned federally.  

For the amendment to take effect, it would need to pass the legislature again in 2026, then go to a referendum.

The second LGBTQ rights bill the General Assembly approved would amend the Virginia Human Rights Act.

Employees under the law, as it currently stands, do have protections against discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on special protected categories that include race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability to businesses with 15 or more employees, allowing complaints of violations to be reported to and investigated the state, copying the federal law.

Senate Bill 1052, also known as the Virginia Human Rights Act; Definition of ‘Employer,’ would eliminate what some have called a “small business exception” in existing law. The measure would extend human rights protections to employees of businesses with as few as five workers, ensuring they are covered under the Virginia Human Rights Act. It would also grant small business employees the right to file complaints against their employers for potential human rights violations, holding businesses legally accountable for any misconduct.

Youngkin has until March 24 to amend these bills. The governor cannot act on the proposed constitutional amendment.