Parents of Hunterdon County vs LGBTQ+ Books

As schools diversify their content to account for changes in society, some grow unhappy. Many believe high schools should expose their students to different ideas and ways of life, and let the students form their own opinions. Others see flaws in that argument; they worry many students are impressionable because they are still maturing, and they see equal representation aims to push ideas and ways of life onto students. Some parents of students of North Hunterdon School District in Hunterdon County agree with the latter, and have opposed their school’s attempts to diversify; going as far as demanding that the school board remove several books, claiming they aren’t appropriate. Their commonality? LGBTQ+ themes. 

At board meetings on October 6th and 28th 2021, parents of students in the North Hunterdon school district and some surrounding, requested to ban LGBTQ+ books from the school library. These groups believe that books like Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson and David Levithan, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin, Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings, and Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger are “pornographic” and “perverse” among other things. At this meeting Gina DeLusant of Lebanon Township read aloud a passage from the book Lawn Boy to show the board members what the book included that they deemed unacceptable for students. She went on to say that she thought the book was “pornographic”, predatory, and it would be considered grooming behavior for adults to provide this book to minors, saying, “Explain to me how this perversion enriches or benefits the young minds of our students, or anyone for that matter. On the contrary, this amounts to an effort to groom our kids to make them more willing to participate in the heinous act described in these books …. We have entrusted the schools with bodies and minds of our children, and they have failed us.” They faulted the books, the library, and one librarian. This proposal has occurred in many other cities throughout the US, citing the same books, and likely through the same organization. The parents used this fact to support their actions. They believed their beliefs should be the only ones represented. 

On the other hand, there were also parents who supported these book choices. One parent, Kim Rodgers, said they commended the diversity and representation these books provided. The parents opposing the ban formed a group called the “NH-V Intellectual Freedom Fighters.” These parents quoted the First Amendment’s right to free speech to support their actions, saying they wanted “to resist censorship and support” the schools “commitment to intellectual freedom and the First Amendment.” These parents welcomed and viewed representation of diverse ways of life as a positive thing for the students. 

The school board showed support for the books as well. The district communications director responded saying, “We believe it is important to select books that showcase and represent our student body and the diversity in our country.” To recognize these parents’ proposals, a committee to review the books was formed. Alternatively, both of these books have been recognized for excellence by the American Library Association. 

Many students that belong to the North Hunterdon school appreciate the representation of diversity of ways of life. After the board meeting where the parents first introduced the idea of the ban, some students spoke to the board, stating that these books meant a lot to them because they were integral to their own journey to self-discovery and understanding. Despite the students’ courageous acts of vulnerability, the parents that proposed the ban did not hold respect for the students who spoke. Many students’ statements were interrupted by the parents proposing the ban; at one point the parents made sheep noises, claiming their personal stories were not in fact authentic, but they were following a “herd”. Yet many believe those parents were the ones actually doing so as their actions followed a movement that already was occurring in other districts. Furthermore, one parent took photos of students at the meeting and labeled them “ignorant youth.” These claimed “ignorant youth” however, not only had the bravery to share their personal and difficult stories, but also took the extra initiative to form a student group to work to prevent the ban. The group is made up of around 15-20 students from both North Hunterdon and Voorhees included in the North Hunterdon School District. They chose to name it “ignorant youth.”

It’s widely recognized that exposure to different lifestyles is helpful for youth; the ways of life deemed “traditional” are not right for many, and with appropriate representation these youth can see the wide array of types of lifestyles and find the ones right for them. It seems that people who disagree with this aren’t even willing to consider it. The parents of North Hunterdon School District proposing the ban certainly displayed this with their interruption and disrespect at the school board meeting. A school system is made up of so many different people and it seems just that each one can feel represented and acknowledged. The type of person that’s most heavily represented in media is not the only type, and the parents proposing the book ban intentionally fail to recognize this. While these parents are advocating for children they feel they need to protect, they exclude all the others that exist. They seem to think the representation pushes a certain way of life onto someone, yet the lack of it does that same.