Salem Keizer school district in Oregon has been in hot water after parents discovered that a pornographic book, Gender Queer, was available in the school library. The school formed a special committee, headed by a woman named Suzanne West, to determine if the book should be removed. West’s job description reads: “Crafting and developing strategies that support the district’s movement to become a more anti-racist and anti-oppressive school system.”
The committee voted last week to keep the book, which we’ll get into. But first, take a look at some of the explicit content found in Gender Queer:
It’s no surprise that parents have been outraged at the committee’s decision to keep this pornographic book available for their children. We obtained a copy of an email Suzanne West sent to one concerned parent. The email provided official statements from committee members regarding their decision and they are so unbelievably insane, you have to read them yourself:
“The book will be necessary to keep in schools, to help be more inclusive and allow all students from the LGBTQ+ community to have a resource to refer to. In addition, the pages taken out of context do not represent the intention of the book and only served as an illustration to help provide understanding of what the author was trying to portray in their book.”
“The book expands on sexual orientation and gender identity which are both topics touched on in wellness.”
“It being a graphic novel makes the book more accessible to a variety of readers.”
The book “has won a large number of teen-specific literary awards and is an ‘Own Voices’ text for a marginalized community. Inclusion in the library of the three high schools meets the district's goal for more inclusive and diverse materials.”
“This graphic novel is very well done from a literary standpoint. It is an excellent example of a memoir, it includes many visual metaphors, it promotes literacy and accessibility through the graphic format, and it has modern language suitable to our students today.”
A “well written/illustrated text; important insight regarding gender identity.”
“We think kids need to read about vibrators, blowjobs, masturbation, and chest binders for ultimate inclusion and a show of diversity,” is what the statement should’ve read. Instead, they mask the graphic nature of the book under the veil of “inclusivity” and accuse concerned parents of taking the book out of context. In what context is a photo of someone receiving oral sex okay to show children?
The Gender Queer book hasn’t just upset parents in Oregon, however. Alarmed parents across the nation have shown up to local school board meetings to try to have the book removed. One school board even cut a mother off while she read the book, ironically saying it was too “obscene” for a school board meeting:
https://www.libsoftiktok.com/p/district-votes-to-keep-pornographic
