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by jasonlotito 1364 days ago
This is misleading.

It was a high-school level book being read over a broadcast which they wanted to make available for children not at a high school level.

It was being read by a mother of children who weren't in high school, and did not have access to the book.

1 comments

Why would a mere depiction of gay characters be inappropriate for young children?
I don't know how you interpret this as "a mere depiction of gay characters."

The given quote in the video you linked to was:

"Excited now, he pushed into her, and she squeezed her eyes as tightly as she could, her tongue circling her lips. He pushed harder, his breath heavy and labored. She scratched his back, and he cried out. She bit his ear and pulled his hair."

This is a description of what appears to be heterosexual characters. Nor does it appear to be a "mere depiction". I would reserve that for something like "Heather Has Two Mommies" (a mere description of a homosexual couple) or "Mr. and Mrs. Brown" (a mere description of a heterosexual couple who have befriended a bear from darkest Peru).

I am responding to: "these bans are predominantly targeting books that have LGBTQ characters. And books that have non-white characters."

My assertion is that I wouldn't expect a book that simply had a gay character in it to receive that response from the school board.

Your link had nothing to do with LGBTQ characters, "predominantly" is certainly not the same as "universally", and books meant for high school student may contain topics not appropriate for younger children.

Think of how George shoots Lennie in "Of Mice and Men", or the racism in "To Kill a Mockingbird", or why Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet "A", or when Anne Frank talks about her menstruation. Or the details of the meatpacking industry described in "The Jungle".

They are all taught to high school-aged kids. I don't think most people would want all those details described to elementary school kids.

I can't figured out why your assertion is relevant.

While it may be true, surely you don't think that only white hetereosexuals can be portrayed as something other than milquetoast-bland in high school literature.

That response from the school board was for a high school book (not about LGBT characters) being read by some unhinged mother in a place with elementary age children.
I don't know. I didn't suggest it, nor did I make any mention or provide any opinion on the matter.

I read the article you published as evidence, and provided the context showing how you were misrepresenting the story to suit whatever false narrative you were pushing. I'm not sure what agenda you have here, but lying to demonstrate something is never a good sign.