HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, the Hillsborough County School District will speak about a book that’s been challenged in a special meeting.
It’s brought about debate from folks who consider it’s now not age suitable.
“Two and half years ago, my daughter came home and asked me to purchase a certain book for her,” stated Julie Gebhards.
That’s when Gebhards instructed ABC Action News she began having a look extra carefully into the books to be had to scholars in Hillsborough County Schools and located a couple of that had been beside the point in her opinion.
Gebhards in the long run determined to take her youngsters out of faculty and home-school them as an alternative.
“Here in Hillsborough County, I think we have a deep swamp of books that need to be looked at,” she stated.
The book these days underneath the microscope is “This Book is Gay” through Juno Dawson.
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It’s been to be had to scholars at Pierce Middle School.
So ABC Action News got a duplicate of the book. It states it’s a candid, humorous, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to develop up LGBTQIA+.
Chapters in the book come with “Coming Out” and “The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex.”
“I don’t think that’s appropriate for middle schoolers,” stated Gebhards.
Some folks, like Gebhards, have taken factor with the book. She was once one of the most folks who filed a request with the varsity district to problem it.
After the book was once at the beginning challenged final yr, each and every member of the Education Media Materials Committee learn the book, mentioned it, and in the long run determined to take care of it in the library. They stated that it is usually a useful resource for an underrepresented group.
The faculty board then held up that call in a majority vote.
Another dad or mum who ABC Action News spoke with however declined an interview asked an appeal to that call in the hopes leaders will trade their minds.
The faculty board will speak about that appeal throughout a distinct referred to as assembly on Tuesday, March 28.
“As parents, I think we have certain rights. I think a question that keeps coming back into my mind is, do I, as a parent, have a right to protect my own children from being exposed to things that I think are inappropriate? And I think the answer is yes. But when a media specialist or a teacher puts something in front of them and allows them access to something that I think is inappropriate, my rights have been taken away,” stated Gebhards.
However, advocates of educational freedom consider book banning is turning into extra prevalent.
“It is very clear that Florida is becoming the leading edge of this,” stated Jonathan Friedman, Director of Free Expression and Education Programs at PEN America.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that you want to have a conversation about a book that’s in a school. I think what’s happening that is problematic is that those conversations aren’t happening, and instead, we have a situation where a single complaint just leads to a book being removed for everybody. Is there a reason to object to a certain book being in a middle school or a high school? Sure, but I think it’s important that people who make those decisions recognize the stakes of those decisions when they make them that sometimes it is only in a public school that someone can get access to a book. Or sometimes it is a book that saves somebody’s life as they’re grappling with their own identity,” he added.
Friedman instructed ABC Action News he thinks there’s multiple viewpoint to consider when it comes to this book in query.
“When I spoke with Juno Dawson, who is the author of This Book is Gay, he said to me is what we have to understand is that banning these books isn’t going to stop a single LGBTQ person from being who they are. Instead, it’s just going to leave that person less well-informed and more vulnerable,” stated Friedman.
The assembly starts at 10 a.m.