Annette Hubbell is a San Diego native, a retiree who writes and acts. She wrote a book about historical figures that she admires and later turned it into a one-woman play that she has performed many times.
In March 2023, Hubbell, who is white, had a contract with the San Diego County Library, and the Rancho Santa Fe branch invited her to perform as some of the characters in the play. They specifically requested Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Harriet Tubman; the latter two were black women.
Two weeks before the performance, Hubbell's attorneys at Pacific Legal Foundation say the library emailed Hubbell saying administrators were not comfortable with her performing as black historical characters.
"They wanted her to change those characters," attorney Chris Barnewolt tells AFN. "Annette didn't believe that that was right; she didn't think it was appropriate for the library to gatekeep who could play and pay tribute to these American heroes, so she declined to change."
"Since I’ve been performing these characters, there has never been a hint of offense, even from anonymous surveys," Hubbell reports. "And why should there be? Am I only to honor white women? How could we ever explore our common humanity with these kinds of restrictions?”
Barnewolt points out that skin color is immutable and that Hubbell admires these figures for the content of their character.
When Hubbell asked a library supervisor about the musical "Hamilton," a famous and popular play in which actors of color perform as historical white Founding Fathers, she was told that is "historically different" in an unexplained way they expected her to understand.
The library ultimately canceled her performance – a decision endorsed by the county's "Diversity and Inclusion Executive Council," which is composed of representatives from county departments.
"Our priority is ensuring that our programs align with our values of equity, respect, and inclusivity," a council spokesperson said.
Barnewolt says if a library in San Diego can do this, then it can be expected from any library or any county government. But it violates multiple federal civil rights laws and, in this case, the California Constitution.
"We're trying to stand up here a principle that applies to everybody," Barnewolt relays. "The government should not be telling people what they can and can't do because of their race. Period. In whatever state, whatever county."
A federal lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Pacific Legal Foundation expects to hear back from San Diego County in a few weeks, but Barnewolt says litigation can take a long time.
