"Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe is no longer allowed in public school libraries in Loudoun County, Virginia. The decision was made by the school district in response to allegations that the color illustrations in the book were inappropriate for school aged children.
According to the Washington Times, the 2019 novel is about a young person's struggle with gender identity and had sparked debate all over the United States because of its controversial and graphic LGBT content. Loudoun County schools superintendent Scott Ziegler had asked for a review of the book following concerns about its content from parents.
The "committee recommended (on a split vote) to retain the book in the high school library collection (but) the superintendent decided to remove the book from circulation," Loudoun County schools spokesman Wayde Byard confirmed through written communication. While the decision was appealed, the School Board's appeal committee unanimously voted on Thursday to uphold Ziegler's decision.
Ziegler said in a statement that he reads all the books that are submitted for his review "in its entirety" and that while he is "not generally infavor of removing books from the library," he argued against retaining "Gender Queer" in the public school libraries.
"The pictorial depictions in this book ran counter to what is appropriate in school," Ziegler wrote of his decision about the book, which contains illustrations of sexual contact, masturbation, and even a sex toy.
"Sexual content is a large part of this book," Ian Serotkin, vice chair of Loudoun County School Board, wrote on Facebook following his vote to remove "Gender Queer" from public libraries. "It is not fleeting or brief."
According to the Washington Post, Serotkin acknowledged that while the sexually explicit illustrations in "Gender Queer" are only apparent in some pages of the book, its "sexual themes are pervasive throughout the book" and the "sexually explicit illustrations themselves cannot be ignored."
Meanwhile in other parts of the U.S., some librarians are pushing back against conservative leaders for wanting to ban certain books from libraries. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, a group of school librarians in Texas are fighting back against what they believe is censorship. Following Texas state Rep. Matt Krause's call to review up to 850 books for possible removal from public school libraries, a band of four librarians set up "#FReadom Fighters" to resist the "war on books."
Carolyn Foote, a former school librarian turned library consultant in an Austin suburb called it a "little freedom-fighting team" that deluged Texas lawmakers with emails and tweets that resisted efforts all over the U.S. to remove certain books from public libraries.
School districts in at least 30 more states are in the midst of intense debates on whether some books like "Gender Queer" should be removed from school libraries. At the forefront of the fight to remove such books are Moms for Liberty and No Left Turn in Education. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, both Republicans who are seeking reelection this year, had put their weight behind investigations into books that involve LGBT or Black characters. Even Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin made the issue of book banning one of the pillars of his successful campaign.
No Left Turn in Education offers a list of over 60 books on its website that it believes is inappropriate for school children, because the books spread "radical and racist ideologies to students." Most books in the list feature LGBT or Black characters.
