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.

'Five ways you can show up for trans people this Trans Awareness Week - and beyond' & other Wed midday news briefs

5 meaningful ways you can show up for trans people this Trans Awareness Week – and beyond - Take notes.

Olympics changing trans-athlete policy, will leave inclusion up to individual sports - We will see how this turns out.

9 quotes from LGBTQ celebrities that will comfort you as you’re coming out - And I live for this. When I was a child, LGBTQ celebrities wouldn't come out of the closet, to say nothing about giving words of comfort. Progress is wonderful. 

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Conservative Supreme Court - We hear a lot of fear mongering about what this court may do to our equality. While that jury is out, so the speak, this article provides a bit of needed levity. 

Drag queens are being swatted while streaming on Twitch. They want it to stop. - This needs to stop.

Virginia school board decides against removing books after controversial 'book burning' statements

All of this nonsense about banning supposedly sexually explicit books from school libraries was bound to create a backlash sooner or later. And when it happened, it was delicious.

According to the Associated Press:

A Virginia school board rescinded a directive for staff to pull books with “sexually explicit” books from libraries early Tuesday after hours of passionate public comment. The Spotsylvania County school board voted 5-2 to reverse the order amid public backlash, but some board members said they’ll continue to take a stance against the inclusion of what they view as offensive material in school library books, The Free Lance-Star reported. Board members Rabih Abuismail and Kirk Twigg, who spoke of burning books at last week's meeting, did not support the reversal.

The comments made by Abuismail and Twigg favoring burning books could be speculated as a reason why the directive was rescinded. The comments went viral across the nation and underscored to many the dangers of this latest hysteria. Images of various book burnings throughout history, including those in Nazi Germany before World War 2, were invoked.

According to LGBTQNation, at the meeting before the vote, various parents, students, librarians, and teachers addressed the school board, voicing their anger directly to them:

“[Your behavior] is the most egregious example of unprofessionalism I have ever witnessed,” one parent said, according to Adele Uphaus-Conner, a reporter for the Free Lance-Star. “The only course of action I see fit for you is a formal public apology to all the librarians in this county & for you to submit your resignation from the school board.” 

 “You have labeled books you have no knowledge of and placed shame upon them,” said a district librarian. “You have no right to judge anyone or what they read.” 

 . . . “If you are scared of a community you are supposed to represent, this is not the job for you,” said another student. 

'Target's Pride nutcracker will probably be the talk of the holiday season' & other Tue midday news brief

Target's Pride Nutcracker Is Making the Yuletide Gayer - This ought to be a hit. People love stuff like this. I can just imagine the religious right.

Beto O’Rourke will run against anti-LGBTQ extremist to be governor of Texas​ - We'll see what happens. 

  

Student accuses campus fraternity of homophobia and hazing, says he’s no longer safe at school - Awful story. 

Ohio's first LGBTQ+-inclusive senior housing easing fear of going 'back into the closet' - Places like this are needed nationwide.

'Moms for Liberty' group reminds LGBTQ and black communities that they have common enemies

 Moms for Liberty caused controversy in Tenn earlier this year by lying about a same-sex kiss on a float. 

Whenever I hear anyone play the black community vs. LGBTQ community angle, I get depressed on so many levels. As a gay black man, I feel like I'm being pulled and dissected. I feel as if no one cares about me as a person because they see me as a commodity to their struggle.

And then there is the fact that often times, both communities have the same enemies. Take the group Moms for Liberty, for example. That's a group which earlier this year caused a ruckus in Tennessee by  falsely portraying an innocent kiss between a same-sex students into  a lurid grope.

 The kiss was a "blink and you'll miss it" peck, but thanks to the lies put out by Moms for Liberty,  the incident was blown up into a huge, unnecessary controversy punctuated by a bunch of ignorant folks corralling a school board meeting with nonsense about kids "French kissing" and "groping" each other.

And surprise, surprise, Moms for Liberty - which is actually not a group of concerned parents, but astroturfed GOP operatives who, according to Media Matters:

. . . strategically harassing school board members, teachers, and administrators across the country, is deeply tied to anti-civil rights advocacy. Beyond opposing education about the history of racism in America, the organization also recommends reading an American history book by a far-right conspiracy theorist that is sympathetic to slave owners, and the co-founder of the organization actively opposed desegregation efforts while formerly serving on her school board. The organization’s staunch opposition to teaching “critical race theory” (CRT) perfectly fits in with its connection to anti-civil rights advocacy. CRT is actually a body of specific academic and legal scholarship, but this group and others have self-servingly (and incorrectly) rewritten the definition to essentially encompass any discussion of race or oppression.

Media Matters also provides clues as to what the group may want to be taught when it comes to America's racial history:

Moms for Liberty recommends The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen as a “helpful” text “when discussing the founding documents” of the United States . . . Skousen's book is also sympathetic to slave owners, calling them “the worst victims” and writing that “in some ways, the economic system of slavery chained the slave owners almost as much as the slaves.” Skousen himself was a supporter of the John Birch Society, an anti-civil rights organization that claimed the “African-American freedom movement was being manipulated from Moscow with the goal of creating a ‘Soviet Negro Republic’ in the Southern United States.”

Slave owners as victims of slavery?  That's actually a not a new idea to me. It reminds me of the following segment of an episode of 'The Boondocks,' 

 

 The video is not graphic due to violence. It's not violent at all but it's satire and language is very controversial. On can call it an exaggeration, but it does underscore the point I am trying to make.

The black and LGBTQ communities would be better served in not arguing who gets hit with the most rocks. Maybe they should unite against the rock throwers.

'Groups object to SC Gov's attempt to ban LGBTQ books from school libraries' & other Mon midday news briefs

SC Gov Henry McMaster

Group says governor’s call to investigate book ‘political attack on LGBTQ youth’- It is an attack on LGBTQ people in general.

South Carolina governor calls for LGBTQ book to be banned in schools - Speaking of which.

Virginia’s governor-elect appoints several anti-LGBTQ leaders to transition team - Things are about to get interesting. And not in a good way. 

Only 6% of LGBTQ+ People Say They Aren't Getting a COVID Vaccine - Still too many. 

Leaked Recording Shows LGBTQ+ BBC Employee Frustration - The BBC deserves all of the trouble it is getting into.

Coming out stories with 'The Golden Girls'

I have a feeling that this is going to be a very interesting week, therefore let's ease into it with a positive spirit and a degree of uplifting, featuring The Golden Girls. Or more specifically, the best parts of memorable episodes involving the LGBTQ community. One is when Dorothy's friend Jean (Lois Nettleton) develops feelings for Rose. And the other, probably the best known, is when Blanche's brother (Monte Markham) comes out and then gets engaged. Laugh now and gird your loins to raise hell later if needed.