A graphic novel depicting graphic sexual scenes many describe as pornographic in nature has been removed from Harlem High School. | Unsplash/Eliott Reyna
A graphic novel depicting graphic sexual scenes many describe as pornographic in nature has been removed from Harlem High School. | Unsplash/Eliott Reyna
A graphic novel depicting graphic sexual scenes many describe as pornographic in nature has been removed from Harlem High School.
The Harlem Unit School District 122 school board did not take action on seven other books.
"It’s porn," Lynette Hofman said, according to WIFR. "We're talking incest, molestation and pedophilia."
One attendee at the meeting read a passage aloud from the book.
"This is from 'Gender Queer.' ‘I got a new strap-on harness today,’" said one public commenter. "‘I can’t wait to put it on you.'"
The school oversees more than 1,500 students at its Machesney Park campus, according to U.S. News.
One of the eight books being challenged during the board meeting, Maia Kobabe's novel inclusion on library shelves across the state sparked outrage among various school boards beginning last year, the Dupage Policy Journal reported. The book, which contains illustrated pictures of graphic sex scenes, has sparked national attention. Kobabe's art has been criticized by parents around the country as being excessively sexual and inappropriate for students.
The film, "Whose Children Are They," examines the infiltration of sexually and racially charged materials into public schools, according to the Chicago City Wire. The film alleges leftist teachers have spent time in classrooms promoting controversial education, especially in required readings.
"The part that is the most shocking is the sex education portion," producer and writer Deborah Floran said in an interview with AM 560’s the Morning Answer at the time of the film’s release, Chicago City Wire reported. "This is comprehensive; it's about sex education, gender fluidity, anti-discipline etc., but even the sex education we have to put a disclaimer in front of it saying, 'This is for mature audiences only.' But they're showing it to children across the country."
According to Kristin Jenson of Defend Young Minds, an anti-child-sex-abuse organization, adults talking about sex with young children is a "grooming behavior parents should recognize."
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