Back-to-School Means GOP-led Book Bans

Conservatives are out to get books by and about queer writers (as well as writers of color, and especially queer writers of color) but most seem to know they can’t simply say they don’t want books by and about LGBTQ+ people in public schools and libraries. So they describe these books as “obscene” or “pornographic” or “inappropriate,” all of which are perfectly in tune with the “grooming” hysteria the party is pushing to further demonize queer people. It’s hateful, discriminatory, and scary.

Wendy Suares, an Oklahoma news anchor took to Twitter with a story about a teacher for Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma.  It seems that an English teacher has been fired after speaking to students about an initiative from Brooklyn Public Library to make books accessible to students everywhere in the country. The library initially announced the program back in April and for obvious reason, it’s gained national traction amid Republican efforts to ban (or even burn) books. 

The public school teacher, now identified by local outlet Fox 24 as English teacher Summer Boismier, has been fired for simply talking about the program and sharing the QR code from the library with her students.

The teacher told Suares she had been “removed” from her position and put on leave, saying, “Let me be absolutely clear: I place the primary responsibility for this chilling of free speech and free association at the feet of Ryan Walters, Governor Stitt, and their ilk at 23rd & Lincoln.  In response to unfounded calls from state leadership for widespread censorship, I did share a library-linked QR code with my students.” Bosimier told local outlet Fox 25 that she was “immediately” placed on leave after doing so-- adding, "Teachers across the district have been told by administration to either remove or restrict student access to classroom library texts for fear of a potential accreditation downgrade associated with any perceived violations of HB 1775.” 

Another example of book ban hysteria comes to us from a school district in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, where a book was temporarily removed from a public high school library by police after a parent complained, as covered by the Houston Chronicle.  Katy Independent School District confirmed to the outlet that a copy of Flamer by Mike Curato was removed from the library after a parent of a high school student filed a police report saying the material was harmful to minors. Flamer is a graphic novel for teens about queer identity, self-discovery, and self-love and acceptance in the 1990s.

Mom and professional counselor Anne Russey accurately pointed out queer people and other minority communities are being targeted in books bans and that it’s ultimately harmful. “They are not pornographic books,” Russey said at the meeting, per local outlet KHOU 11. Instead, she points out they’re written to “tell a story,” not with the intent of “arousing anybody."