Why was This Book is Gay Challenged in our school?
A group of well-meaning parents challenged this book on Salt Spring Island not because it is LGBTQ+ (according to the posts) but because it contains what they deem to be ‘pornographic’ content.
The challenge started on Facebook through a post by an anonymous parent. It was then taken to the Gulf Islands Secondary School Administration, the SD64 school board, and the Parent Advisory Council.
The post was a series of screenshots from a website called ‘BookLooks,’ touted as being for the busy parent on the go who doesn’t have time to read all the books.
BookLooks launched in 2022 and uses a rating system approved by the right-wing activist group “Moms for Liberty.” The website states that the creators do not support the banning of books.
In less than 2 years, BookLooks became THE go-to resource for anyone seeking to ban books - especially books about sexuality, gender, and the LGBTQ+ community. In Virginia, one school district has adopted the site as an official reference tool for vetting its library books.
When did we stop trusting the expertise of librarians who are trained to select books for our schools?
I initially thought I should go through every sentence/paragraph quoted by BookLooks to refute the decontextualized text, but honestly, that is exhausting and unnecessary.
First, each sentence/paragraph on the BookLooks website (and the parent Facebook post) was taken out of context. If you are going to challenge a book, please read it to see what it's about, understand why it is being written, and what the author is trying to convey.
The book was written by Juno Dawson, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and who was bullied as a child and had to navigate her way through a difficult adolescence when nobody talked to her about gender, queer sex, dating, or relationships and it was not taught in schools.
The very fact that LGBTQ+ sexuality was not (and sometimes still is not) taught in schools means that many kids are not given accurate information, AND they are left feeling that Heterosexual sex is normal (ergo, Queer sex is not) and that being CIS-gendered is normal (ergo being Transgender or NonBinary is not)
I’m not debating normal vs. abnormal with anyone. There is no normal.
Teens ARE having sex. Same-sex sex is happening all the time, all over the world. The least we can do for our children is teach them about it the same way we teach about heterosexual sex. Not teaching about same-sex sex is institutionalized homophobia, and it puts teens at risk. Full Stop.
What is in Juno Lawson’s book?
Firstly, Juno Lawson is hilarious. She has a dry, sometimes silly, and sarcastic sense of humour. This is great. In the book-writing world, we call this ‘voice,’ and it keeps us reading. Her humour serves to make subjects that are challenging a bit lighter. We all need more of this.
Juno covers many topics from Queer culture, Identity, Stereotypes, Fear, Coming Out, Dating and meeting people, Queer sex, love, intersectionality (being a minority in more than one way - e.g., being gay, black, and having a prosthetic arm). Life is more challenging when you live with multiple types of inequality. Full Stop.
Juno includes testimonies from people she interviewed. She says, “I haven’t edited or changed the testimonies of the LGBTQ+ people in this book, so you might not identify or agree with everything they have to say, AND THAT’S FINE. We have to be able to talk about sexuality and identity in a nonhysterical way.” (p.5)
This is important: we have to be able to talk about sexuality and identity in a Non-Hysterical Way.
So, a bit about Fear...
Grooming. One of the parents mentioned this in the Facebook post that challenged Juno’s (and other) books. Grooming is a product of fear and is something that some people think adult Queer people do to ‘recruit’ younger people into being Queer. As a bisexual person who lived for almost ten years as a lesbian, I can tell you that no one groomed me and that realizing that I had romantic and sexual feelings for women brought me to the divine place of knowing who I am and why I always felt like I didn’t quite fit in. I can also tell you that coming out to my family was the single most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. I am now happily married to a CIS man and very much #teambi, though another post would be needed to discuss feeling on the edge of two identities.
So, when Juno talks throughout her book about being part of a club and having membership in the Queer World, she is talking about belonging (not grooming). She is referencing the fact that for many Queer people, their lives radically change when they come out, and navigating family dynamics often becomes painful. Your membership in the Queer Club gives you belonging and acceptance and provides a place to celebrate who you are when you don’t feel accepted or seen at home.
What happens when Heterosexual people are scared? verbal abuse, rumours, exclusion, cyber bullying, death threats, physical violence, and sexual assault. Juno talks about this in depth in Chapter 5: Fear.
So, a bit about this so-called pornographic content...
I‘m not concerned because these books are LGBTQ books. I‘m concerned because they contain pornography. More than one of the parents mentioned this in the Facebook post that challenged Juno’s (and other) books.
WE MUST BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN A NON-HYSTERICAL WAY.
Chapter 9: The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex. Ok, so if you don’t like talking or reading about sex, you don’t like naming body parts (something that is taught in grade 1 in British Columbia), then you won’t like this chapter. That’s fine. But to raise responsible, well-informed children who can engage in consensual, responsible, and safe sex, we have to talk about this.
Juno talks about STIs (sexually transmitted diseases). To talk about STIs (which is first brought up in Grade 6 in British Columbia), you need to talk about body parts and sexual activities and define what the risks are for each kind of sexual activity.
And, if you can‘t talk to your kid about sex, isn‘t it great that Juno has written this book so you don‘t have to? If what we want is for our kids to be happy, healthy, and able to pursue their dreams, then we need to give them the support they need to be who they are and the information they need to be safe.
NEWSFLASH: STRAIGHT KIDS NEED THIS EDUCATION ALSO. Straight teens are engaging in most, if not all , of the same sexual activities (if they are sexually active) as Queer kids. Don’t believe me? Read Peggy Orenstein’s book “Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape.” More than once, Juno says in her book that all kids and parents can benefit from reading her book.
How many of your kids (Queer or straight) are on social media? How many of them know about dating apps? Do we not owe it to ALL kids to talk about how apps are used, when they are helpful, and how to use them safely? I guarantee you that ALL kids could benefit from reading Chapter 8: Where to Meet People Like You.
And, yup, Juno talks about Porn - I mean, the real kind. The kind that kids sometimes ask Google to find for them. Here’s what she says on page 196, “Let’s get one thing straight: Pornography is NOT sex education. That is true of all porn - gay, straight, lesbian, whatever. Here’s why...”
She goes on to talk about how porn is not real life, the bodies are not representative of all people, and no one is using condoms, which is a bad idea always. Always wear a condom (or use a dental dam).
“This book is Gay” Should be in School Libraries. Why?
Musical theatre, The Illuminati, Satan, An Airborne Monkey Virus, Flouride, Dolls, Pushy Mothers, Toilet Seats, Gay characters in books and films, Sharing mugs with Gay people .... NONE OF THESE THINGS MAKE YOU GAY. (p.51)
4.5% of the population is LGBTQ+, and 1.3 million people in the U.S. alone are Transgender. And, though some of them might have loved Idina Menzel in “Wicked,“ that Broadway spectacular did not make them Queer. However, it may have made them want to sign up for musical theatre school.
Homophobia and Transphobia still exist (See Chapter 5: Fear). And the only way to create a world where everyone is accepted and celebrated for who they are is through education. Some parents argue that when it comes to sex, they should be the people who educate their kids. But is this realistic? I don’t think so. I think many parents can’t or won’t talk about sex with their teens - straight or Queer.
When we don’t talk about sex in an honest, authentic, and DETAILED way, our kids can get sick, and they can die.
19-29% of gay and lesbian and 18-28% of bisexual students experience dating violence
14-31 of gay and lesbian and 17-32% of bisexual students have been forced to have sexual intercourse at some point in their lives
LGBTQ+ youth were more likely than their heterosexual peers to report high levels of bullying an substance abuse. (p.101)
This book should be in school libraries because it supports the emotional, cultural, physical, and sexual well-being of LGBTQ+ kids and will contribute to their mental and physical well-being.
Teens in grades 7-12 who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual are more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide as their peers. In a study involving 55 transgender youth, 25% reported suicide attempts. (p.102)
Education saves lives. And, This book may also be helpful to straight kids.
This book should be in school libraries because “very often, teachers [and parents] still sidestep the subject entirely because they’re scared they’re being ‘inappropriate.’ How can teaching THOUSANDS of young LGBTQ+ people in schools how to have safe, healthy sexual relationships be ‘inappropriate.’” (p.195)
And now that we’ve educated our kids about sex, can we please move on so that they can go out into the world to invent stuff, be agents of change, become doctors, construction workers, nurses, engineers, roofers, plumbers, therapists, writers, actors, movie stars, and electricians?
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