Protesters accuse Wake of having obscene books in schools: ‘There is no excuse’
The Wake County school system was accused by a group of protesters Tuesday of promoting pornography and sexualizing students because of some books with sexual content in school libraries.
About 50 people protested outside Tuesday’s Wake County school board meeting holding signs such as “We Are the Majority” and accusing the district of distributing books that they claimed were like Playboy magazine.
Books such as “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison have come under fire from some because they contain some sexual scenes.
“There is no excuse and no educational merit to convincing children that a 10-year-old should be engaging in oral sex, and that is the content of these books,” Beatrice Setnik said at the protest.
Setnik is a candidate for school board and organizer of the Pavement Education Project, which organized the rally. She claimed that these kinds of books are making children more susceptible to becoming victims of sexual abuse.
Protesters held up signs with a QR code for the project’s website (www.pavementeducationproject.com) listing objectionable books they say are in Wake’s school libraries.
But defenders of the books note that those being targeted for removal frequently are about people of color and the LGBTQ community.
Some people, including school librarians and students, have spoken out at school board meetings against the book removal efforts. Those speakers argue that students feel more represented when they see people like them in the books in libraries.
“Parents who are fighting to ban books are on the wrong side of the issue,” Robin Livingston, a parent, said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “Some of these parents come speak before the board claiming to speak for the parents of Wake County, but they do not speak for me.”
Nationwide protests
The Wake protest takes place at a time when conservative groups have launched efforts across the nation to remove books from schools that they claim are obscene and pornographic.
For instance, a new Florida law bill would force elementary schools to provide a searchable list of every book available in their libraries or used in instruction and allow parents “to blow the whistle,” according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Associated Press reported.
Similar legislation has been proposed in North Carolina, where GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has called for removing some LGBTQ themed books from schools.
In December, nine people, including Setnik, filed criminal complaints against the Wake County school system for allowing books like “Gender Queer” to be in school libraries. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman declined to file charges.
The Wake County school board recently upheld Cary High School’s decision to allow “Lawn Boy” to remain the library. Board members said people who focus on the book’s sex scenes are ignoring the main themes about overcoming adversity.
But Gil Pagan, a former school board candidate and member of the Pavement Education Project, said books like “Lawn Boy” should only be available to adults. He accused the school system of taking away the ability of parents to shield their children from pornographic books.
“We demand that you take these books out now from these libraries and put them away where they should not be seen or touched again.,” Pagan said at the school board meeting.
Pagan was among the speakers who read excerpts from the books during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Tuesday’s rally, which opened with a prayer to Jesus, had a strong religious element.
“It’s time for the people of God to rise,” said Michele Morrow, a school board candidate and one of the people who had filed a criminal complaint against the district. “It’s time for us to put ourselves on the frontline of this battle and to take our children back and to protect their innocence and to protect their naivete.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Protesters accuse Wake of having obscene books in schools: ‘There is no excuse’."
