OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — There was a battle over books in the Blue Valley School District after a district committee voted in January to keep two books by LGBTIA+ authors in district libraries.
On Thursday evening, the Board of Education served as an appeals court.
It began with a complaint from Todd Farnsworth, who has two children in the district.
He has a problem with sexual imagery and words in “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” and “Gender Queer: A Memoir.”
"This is not about sexual orientation or identity," Fansworth said. "I simply want universal application of the rules. This is about real or simulated sex organs and real or simulated sexual acts."
In making his point, he showed the board some of the drawings used in the books and recited some of their prose.
The district's librarian explained why both books should remain on the shelves.
"They’re not sharing this part of their life, nor did they draw these images to be sexually explicit," Cristy Bolton, the K-12 library media coordinator in the district said. "These scenes are described and drawn to convey the author's truth, they were necessary and justified in sharing their truth."
Ultimately, the board voted to keep the books.
Jim McMullen was one of two members who voted against it.
"This isn't like this is censorship across the board, we're making a decision and we're the caretakers of what goes into what we present as the ideal for children," McMullen said
"Fun Home" is a graphic novel of the author's journey of coming out and growing up with a gay father.
"Gender Queer" is Maia Kobabe's memoir that addresses the hardships of coming out.
They are points of view that the Kansas City Center for Inclusion believe are critical.
"Students from marginalized communities and identities specifically crave and need and deserve stories that reflect their experiences," Emily Ferrarini, the center coordinator said. "And to deny them that, it's just actively harmful and hateful."
Now that the board has reached a decision, the two books cannot be challenged again for at least two years.
Thursday’s hearing is the first of its kind in over a decade in the district.
The American Library Association and the National Coalition Against Censorship track about 300 to 400 book challenges in a typical year.
This year, they tracked that same number in just the beginning of this school year in September to November of 2021.
That's four times the normal rate for that time period.
