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Fairfax schools will return 2 books to shelves after reviewing complaints over content
Hat tip, DCist:
Morning Roundup: Fairfax Is Returning Two Books To High School Libraries After Parental Complaints
Local Education
Fairfax schools will return 2 books to shelves after reviewing complaints over content
By Nicole Asbury
Yesterday at 10:12 a.m. EST
Fairfax County Public Schools has decided to return two books to its high school libraries, following a review into complaints that the books contained sexually explicit language and scenes that weren’t appropriate for a juvenile audience, the school system announced Tuesday.
Over about a month, one committee read, discussed and reviewed “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison and another assessed “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe. Each unanimously recommended that its respective book remain in libraries because the panels consider the books diverse reading material that students with underrepresented identities could relate to, according to a news release from the largest school system in Virginia.
The books have been the center of a public debate in the Fairfax district. At a school board meeting in September, two speakers — one a parent, the other a woman who identified herself as a former teacher — said the books were inappropriate for a high school audience because of their sexual content and alleged that they contained depictions of pedophilia.
Kobabe’s publisher, Oni Press, has said the illustrated memoir is an important resource not only for people who identify as nonbinary or gender queer, but also for people who want to understand what that means. Kobabe previously wrote in an October op-ed in The Washington Post that, “Removing or restricting queer books in libraries and schools is like cutting a lifeline for queer youth, who might not yet even know what terms to ask Google to find out more about their own identities, bodies and health.”
{snip}
Stacy Langton, a Fairfax mother who filed the formal complaint about the books, said Tuesday that she learned from reporters about the books being reinstated to school libraries. She intends to go through the school system’s appeals process because she thinks the material is offensive and obscene, she said.
Langton added that her stance had nothing to do with the fact that the books contain LGBTQ characters, noting that she grew up around the LGBTQ community since her mother was a lesbian. ... “It’s never about that,” Langton said. “I’m not looking to remove the LGBTQ book collection as a whole.”
{snip}
By Nicole Asbury
Nicole Asbury is a Bradlee Fellow covering social issues for The Washington Post's Metro desk. Twitter https://twitter.com/NicoleAsbury
Fairfax schools will return 2 books to shelves after reviewing complaints over content
By Nicole Asbury
Yesterday at 10:12 a.m. EST
Fairfax County Public Schools has decided to return two books to its high school libraries, following a review into complaints that the books contained sexually explicit language and scenes that weren’t appropriate for a juvenile audience, the school system announced Tuesday.
Over about a month, one committee read, discussed and reviewed “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison and another assessed “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe. Each unanimously recommended that its respective book remain in libraries because the panels consider the books diverse reading material that students with underrepresented identities could relate to, according to a news release from the largest school system in Virginia.
The books have been the center of a public debate in the Fairfax district. At a school board meeting in September, two speakers — one a parent, the other a woman who identified herself as a former teacher — said the books were inappropriate for a high school audience because of their sexual content and alleged that they contained depictions of pedophilia.
Kobabe’s publisher, Oni Press, has said the illustrated memoir is an important resource not only for people who identify as nonbinary or gender queer, but also for people who want to understand what that means. Kobabe previously wrote in an October op-ed in The Washington Post that, “Removing or restricting queer books in libraries and schools is like cutting a lifeline for queer youth, who might not yet even know what terms to ask Google to find out more about their own identities, bodies and health.”
{snip}
Stacy Langton, a Fairfax mother who filed the formal complaint about the books, said Tuesday that she learned from reporters about the books being reinstated to school libraries. She intends to go through the school system’s appeals process because she thinks the material is offensive and obscene, she said.
Langton added that her stance had nothing to do with the fact that the books contain LGBTQ characters, noting that she grew up around the LGBTQ community since her mother was a lesbian. ... “It’s never about that,” Langton said. “I’m not looking to remove the LGBTQ book collection as a whole.”
{snip}
By Nicole Asbury
Nicole Asbury is a Bradlee Fellow covering social issues for The Washington Post's Metro desk. Twitter https://twitter.com/NicoleAsbury
1 replies
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