When was the last time you checked out your school’s library? Or your public library? Was it a safe place? I don’t mean physically. I mean mentally and spiritually. Was it safe?
Parents of kids at Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools have had a rough awakening to what is being promoted in those schools’ libraries. Two books, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, that parents’ efforts had removed from the shelves, have been reinstated. Gender Queer: A Memoir is said to have photos of sexual acts between a boy and a man. Administrators “determined that the books did not contain pedophilia and did not violate regulations by including obscene material.”
Harry Jackson, the father of a student at Thomas Jefferson High School, said, “No reasonable person would come to the conclusion that those books do not contain pedophilic material, or that they in any way, shape, or form serve to benefit children.”
The Fairfax Dolley Madison Library had a display of such books. They said to encourage reading during holiday vacation time. However, their choice of books to induce people to read left many angered instead. In these photos, you can see two of these offensive books are placed in the same display as the Holy Bible. And the gnome holding the Bible is wearing the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ community. You can’t tell from these photos, but the display is said to also display quotes from The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.
You can read all about the matter at the links above. The parents won, the display is removed. You CAN make a difference. Keep your eyes open, so you know what is happening.
Here is an excerpt from my book, Who’s Got Dibs on Your Kids?.
The School Library Journal, May 12, 2015, carried an article titled “Evaluating Transgender Picture Books; Calling for Better Ones.” The author, Kyle Lukoff, said that when he took his new position as an elementary school librarian he discovered there were no picture books with transgenders in the leading role. He immediately ordered four picture books that support that life-view.
Mr. Lukoff said there weren’t many picture books that talk to your kids about transgenderism. (Thank you, God!) He says 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert has been very successful. In that book, Bailey, whose parents keep referring to her as a boy (so I suppose she has the physical attributes of a boy) likes to design dresses. Ewert says that the statement by Bailey’s brother, “Get out of here, before I kick you!” isn’t “quite dramatic enough” for his taste. Remember this is a picture book, designated by Amazon as for ages five through nine.
Lukoff calls Be Who You Are by Jennifer Carr a “sweet and supportive story about a child coming out as transgender.” He commends a publisher, Flamingo Rampant, for its mission “to produce feminist, racially diverse, LGBTQ-positive children’s books.”
If your kids’ library has not carried transgender themed books, you might want to check every so often. They might hire a new librarian.
If you would like to read the entire chapter 5, send me a request on the Comment form, and I’ll email it to you.
You shall not lie down with a male as you do with a woman. It is an abomination.
Leviticus 18:22
A woman must not wear the attire of a man, and a man is not to put on the clothing of a woman, because anyone doing these things is detestable to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 22:5