Framework: 

This episode of The Free Matty Podcast - hosted by award-winning retired private investigator and organizer/federal litigant of Drag Queen Story Time in Lafayette, Louisiana - is dedicated to the villain that started it all - Michael Lunsford. 

In the land of sequins, make-up, and make believe, villains like - Lunsford exist only in the imaginations of little children - and in the stories we read to teach them life lessons. The bored bridge troll, the village brute with a misfit handful of opportune friends, or the sad beast that the little boy who cried wolf became when people stopped believing his whiny lies. 

But for residents of South Louisiana, life imitates art in the form of a paid political operative who sacrifices the lives of LGBTQ kids at the cost of winning elections and defeating taxes on behalf of his dark money political donors. 

On paper, Michael Lunsford is the Executive Director of a non-profit called “Citizens for a New Louisiana”. By any other measure, he is the leader of an organized hate crime group. He organizes, disciples, and sends forth religious zealots throughout south Louisiana - and no city hall or library is safe unless he is stopped. 

We have to fight back for the kids. 

The backstory: 

In February 2022, the host of The Free Matty Podcast was arrested at his local library during a board meeting for protesting an attempt by Religious Extremists who were trying to ban LGBTQ books. The library board has been stacked with anti-LGBTQ Christian Nationalists hell-bent on preventing access to LGBTQ reading materials and providing affirming programs. 

The man responsible for this and every other anti-LGBTQ initiative in Lafayette, Louisiana is Michael Lunsford. 

Headlines:

● Lafayette in front lines of culture war as uproar continues over Drag Queen Story Time ● Library board to decide Monday if LGBTQ teen book remains in Lafayette public libraries ● School Librarian of the Year sues right-wing propagandists 

● Teen LGBTQ, sex education book in Lafayette Parish library challenged as pornography 

For the diggers: 

https://bookriot.com/book-censorship-news-july-29-2022/ 

https://katc.com/news/2018/04/27/dark-money-group-works-to-sway-another-lafayette-tax-election/ https://www.queerty.com/now-theres-video-racist-judge-michelle-odinet-cozying-well-known-antigay-activist-20 211216 

There’s lots on Reddit & Twitter, too. 

Pay It Forward Friday: 

This week’s featured non-profit organization is The Trevor Project! Head over to their website to check them out and donate maybe the cost of a cup of coffee today! https://www.thetrevorproject.org 

Library Arrest: 

https://bookriot.com/lafayette-library-board-controversies/ 

https://twitter.com/CharmingMatty/status/1495954206703947779?s=20&t=IC6cG9mlDO8t1xvDRxtBmw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEsdURebRjyOlBNdYZOeztg (channel under construction) 

To assist with legal fees: https://gofund.me/b1295706 

Exclusive merchandise: 

https//www.etsy.com/shop/FREEMATTY 

Streaming: https://freematty.buzzsprout.com/ 

Social Media: 

@freemattypod on FB/IG/Twitter/TikTok 

Disclaimer: The Free Matty Podcast is powered by AcadianaCasts. Opinions expressed on The Free Matty Podcast are that of the host and not the views of AcadianaCasts Network. Topics on The Free Matty Podcast are for entertainment purposes only. No staff of The Free Matty Podcast are currently licensed to conduct private investigation services in the State of Louisiana.