Chicago students defend LGBTQ -themed book from obscenity claims and banning

For the second day, there are reports of a backlash to this nonsense about banning books in school libraries. And today's report is better than yesterday's.

According to The Daily Beast:

Students are clapping back after a book about sexual orientation and gender identity sparked a protest at a Chicago-area high school board meeting Monday night. Conservatives lined up to demand that Gender Queer—a coming-of-age book about gender identity—be pulled from the library at Downers Grove District 99 High School, where only two copies are reportedly accessible for a student population of nearly 5,000. 

 However, students called BS on complaints that the book peddles pornography and sexually explicit content. Instead, they turned the tables on what they said were attacks on homosexuality and free speech. Nearly 200 people attended the school board meeting in Downers Grove that quickly erupted into a book boycott fight, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Those opposed to the book held signs and banners expressing their disgust, claiming that the book exposed children to homoeroticism and pornography. 

The Chicago Sun-Times pointed out how students took a lead role in decrying the attacks on Gender Queer: 

 Lauren Pierret, a 17-year-old senior at Downers Grove North, said she didn’t know “Gender Queer” existed until last week. “This isn’t being forced upon your kids, but it gives kids who would be interested in this story a choice to read it,” she said. 

 Pierret also questioned why other books that feature sex scenes such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Angela’s Ashes” were available in the library but not facing the same criticism. “Let’s not present getting rid of ‘Gender Queer’ as censoring our children from sex,” she told the school board. “It’s homophobia.”

 Josiah Poynter, an 18-year-old senior at Downers North, said he understands “this novel has scenes in it that are mature and sexual to say the least, [but] it’s not like we haven’t been given books with sex in them before. “Inclusion matters to young people,” he told the school board. “This is why we must have this book in our school’s library. Inclusion brings an opportunity to grow in a safe environment. It brings comfort to people who feel unsolved and cast out.”

 

And those were only a few of the students who made wonderful points about censorship, free speech, and the need for inclusion. 

I figure that it will take a couple of more pushbacks before the mainstream media actually gives damn.