Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the push by parents to remove sexually explicit books from public school libraries and the counterargument that these requests target minority groups, specifically the LGBTQ community, and are akin to book banning. Making the point for parents across this country, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana read excerpts from two of the most contentious books talked about in school board meetings from coast to coast.
Kennedy’s readings drew a lot of attention and no doubt made the room uncomfortable. Hell, when I was listening to it in the privacy of my home office, I felt the need to put on headphones to ensure that my children didn’t overhear.
Senate Democrats held their hearing yesterday on “book banning” to try to demonize and intimidate parents.
The hill they chose to die on was putting filthy material in elementary school classrooms and it blew up in their faces. pic.twitter.com/GDVqRKtaiN
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) September 13, 2023
YA Book Content Too Graphic To Publish
Before questioning Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who was there to discuss the validity behind the Illinois law poorly named ‘Right to Read,’ Senator John Kennedy read two excerpts from books found in public school libraries that parents have raised concerns over.
The first excerpt from the book ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ by George Johnson goes into graphic detail describing a same-sex encounter between two young boys. Senator Kennedy then went on to read an excerpt from ‘Gender Queer’ by Maia Kobabe in which a sex toy fantasy is portrayed in detail.
I would love to quote the Senator verbatim in this piece knowing that the left-wing zealots who wish to feed this trash to your children don’t want you to find out just what’s in these books – but I can’t.
I cannot publish the words he read from these “YA” (young adult) books found in school libraries because the content is so graphic in nature that its inclusion would violate the brand safety and content policies of nearly all online advertisers and platforms including Google, Facebook, etc. The same blue chip and Silicon valley companies that support and even donate to leftwing politics and policies.
If you wish to listen for yourself, you can watch Senator Kennedy read these excerpts in the video below posted to X by The Hill. Though I will warn you, this is very graphic and sexually explicit language that, for some reason, the progressive left wants your children to hear and read.
A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bans took a racy turn as Republican senators and a witness read scenes of various sexual content into the congressional record to defend the banning of multiple titles from U.S. schools.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) read a paragraph from… pic.twitter.com/iXbm3DV2Cd
— The Hill (@thehill) September 13, 2023
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Again, these are books that liberals are arguing should be allowed in your taxpayer-funded public school libraries, available for your kids to check out and read without your knowledge.
Here is American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom (ALA OIF) Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone seeking to eschew any notion that this content is in any way “inappropriate” or “sexually inappropriate” for minors.
School Books “Sexually Inappropriate for Minors” Reframed as “Diverse and Inclusive” @SenMikeLee played this clip during the Senate Judiciary Hearing on ‘Book Bans and Censorship’.
What the ALA OIF Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone said is now permanently on the record. pic.twitter.com/iV1YFUu39X
— Haley Kennington (@ladykennington) September 12, 2023
An Indefensible Argument
After reading from these two books, Senator Kennedy asked Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias what he expects the Senate to think and what it is parents are expected to do or not do when it comes to these books. Mr. Giannoulias replied with this headslapper:
“With all due respect, Senator, the words you spoke are disturbing – especially coming out of your mouth – is very disturbing. But what I would also tell you that we’re not advocating for kids to read porn…”
Sen. Kennedy reads passages from pornographic books Genderqueer and All Boys are Blue.
The Illinois Sec. of State Alexi Giannoulias responds by saying “those words are disturbing coming from your mouth.”
His state’s new law stops parents from being able to remove it from… pic.twitter.com/eDehdhctQL
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 12, 2023
RELATED: Mask Mandates Return To Schools All Over America
Mr. Giannoulias, it shouldn’t be especially disturbing for those words to come out of the Senator’s mouth, at least not more disturbing than those words coming out of, say, my seven-year-old daughter’s mouth. At least the Senator is a grown adult aware of the world around him and capable of protecting his mind and heart from things that would do him harm.
So if Mr. Giannoulias isn’t advocating for “kids to read porn”, what is he advocating for? According to the Secretary:
“We are advocating for parents, random parents not to have the ability – under the guise of keeping kids safe – to try and challenge the world view of every single manner on these issues.”
There is nothing random about any parent. I am not randomly my daughter and son’s mother; I chose to be their mother and actively participated in their birth.
I am, along with their father, their primary guides and protectors. It’s interesting how if you are a conservative parent or even just a parent who doesn’t want sexually graphic material in public school libraries, you are “random.”
Still, if you are a parent of a transgender child or a liberal parent, your voice matters. Funny how that works, Mr. Giannoulias.
I’m watching clips from todays Senate hearing on so-called “book bans.”
My main takeaway is this….
If you love your child & want to preserve their innocence do not send them to public school.
— Clare Anne Ath (@clareanneath) September 13, 2023
What are we Talking About?
The Illinois ‘Right to Read’ law that Mr. Giannoulias helped draft pulls funding from public libraries that limit or prohibit material based on “partisan or doctrinal” reasons. The argument from people like Mr. Giannoulias and Democratic lawmakers is that once you start pulling books like ‘Gender Queer’, the next step is pulling a book like Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ because it contains the description of an alleged rape.
I’ve read ‘Gender Queer’ and ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’, among other explicit books in contention, because if you are going to speak or write about something in depth, I believe you should know the subject matter. I’ve also read ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ numerous times.
Let’s examine the rape excerpt from ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.’ This excerpt is from when Mayela describes the alleged rape by Tom Robinson:
“…I turned around an ‘fore I knew it he was on me. Just run up behind me, he did. He got me round the neck, cussin’ me an’ sayin’ dirt – I found ‘n’ hollered, but he had me round the neck. He hit me agin’ an’ agin’…”
Anyone with any sense can tell there is a vast difference between the content in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue.’ American Enterprise Institute research fellow Max Eden posed this question at the hearing:
“We’re talking about books with explicit passages … ten-year-olds performing sodomy, underage incest … Is this OK for kids?”
According to the left, it is.
Max Eden did a phenomenal job! https://t.co/EtOCvdAsw3
— Taylor 🇺🇸🐊❤️🖤 (@Tayloh25) September 12, 2023
The Core of the Problem
Judiciary Chairman Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois argued yesterday that:
“Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are.”
Congress saw firsthand today: Illinois is leading the way in protecting intellectual freedom.
We’re the first state to ban book bans, because we recognize the value of a full history and education.
Proud of our state. pic.twitter.com/bFFEiNgMop
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) September 12, 2023
That sounds all nice and well, but I think the Senator doesn’t realize he’s hit on perhaps the actual ailment that afflicts America’s youth. Shouldn’t we be wondering why so many kids’ experiences reflect things such as incest, rape, sodomy, and other explicit sexual activities?
Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves why America’s youth are focusing on their understanding of their worth and purpose associated with sex? Certain books touched me on very personal levels as a preteen and teenager.
Books like ‘The Great Gatsby,’ ‘King Lear,’ ‘The Egyptian,’ ‘All Things Fall Apart,’ and ‘Tai-Pan.’ They ignited my love of adventure, history and my thoughts on injustice and class.
It’s not that I wasn’t going through sexual transformations associated with puberty, I am a human female, after all – but it didn’t engulf my soul like it seems to with youth today.
Brandeis University student and LGBT advocate Cameron Samuels told Senator Kennedy yesterday:
“Your definition of sexual is synonymous with LGBTQ identity.”
Tell me, Mr. Samuels, what makes up LGBTQ identity? Because from what I can tell, it is predominantly associated with sex.
Sure, I see a lot of rainbows and platitudes, like being proud and authentic. Still, you don’t have to be LGBTQ to enjoy rainbows, be proud, and be authentic.
That isn’t unique to LGBTQ.
Youngkin is cross-crossing the state essentially arguing that VA Dems are hostile to parental rights & VA Dems are basically responding, “yes, that’s correct.” Take note, voters.
Some background on what Barack Obama & Terry McAuliffe dismissed as a phony culture war in 2021: https://t.co/cNtQlSWICs pic.twitter.com/vsFWMw9aAK
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 12, 2023
Final Thoughts
The left doesn’t want parents or the public at large to know what is in these books. Why? Because, deep down, they know it’s wrong.
These books are inappropriate at best and poison at worst. That’s why school boards nationwide shut down microphones of parents reading excerpts and, at times, have law enforcement escort parents out of the meetings for doing the same.
As North Carolina pastor John Amanchukwu said after being shut down at a school board meeting:
“If you don’t want to hear it in a school board meeting, why should children be able to check it out of the school system?”
It’s the same reason Democrats walked out and refused to listen to their own gender reassignment surgery expert detail the challenges with surgery on minors.
We live in a world where our youth face a mental health crisis unlike any other time in our history. Youth are taught to question who they are in school instead of math, reading, science, and civics.
Youth are more violent and delinquent than ever, are causing massive destruction like in Illinois’ own Chicago that was recently rocked by a ‘teen takeover.’ Don’t let the left convince you these books are “fine”, or that they’re fighting parents who want to erase classics like ‘Catcher in the Rye’ or ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.’
It’s not the same; you know it, and they know it. The question is, why are they more concerned with making filth available to your children than the quality of their education in math, science, civics, and literacy?
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