As parents militated, the school district issued a weak statement that copped to stupidity rather than malice: “There was no indication from the book’s description that it contained graphic illustrations.” In other words, not a single librarian and or administrator had actually peeked at the pages. Little wonder why “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach” turned out to be a losing slogan for Virginia Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe.
In the end, the school removed the book from its shelves. But parents are still angry; some are even pushing for legislation to criminally prosecute library and school officials who expose their children to sexually explicit material. They don’t believe that Gender Queer’s circulation was accidental because this is not the first incident.
South of Keller, the Lake Travis Independent School District recently banned Ashley Perez’s book Out of Darkness after parents discovered that it contained graphic descriptions of anal sex between teenagers. The novel blends Critical Race Theory—the characters live in the snares of a cruel white society—and literary pornography. The book was available in at least two Texas middle schools, Hudson Bend and Bee Cave. An upset mother read explicit passages from the book during a COVID-related school board meeting, and it was only after video of her speech went viral that administrators were pressured to act.
Parents believe they have few institutional allies in the war for the hearts and minds of their kids. Republican politicians like to provide comments and issue strongly worded letters once a story makes headlines. But when the media doesn’t care, it seems that neither do they. Kris Kittle can’t even get Republican officials to return her calls. The mother of a Keller school district student, Kittle is also an adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University with a Ph.D. in higher education.