Book banning and other updates
Trying not to curse. Might not succeed.
First, Rockingham County got back to book banning, According to the Daily News Record, they took a break for the holidays. They promptly voted to ban Ellen Hopkins’ Identical. The review committee had identified sexual content, as the book deals with sexual abuse. On her website, the author writes:
Identical tackles perhaps the most difficult subject matter of all. It is about identical twins whose father is sexually abusing one of them. I chose this subject matter because the issue touched the lives of three of my friends. Today, they are successful, beautiful women who you would never believe this might have happened to. I want readers to know it is possible to find a way beyond this terrible place, into a brighter future.
Not in Rockingham County, though.
They banned Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, against the review committe’s recommendation. The committee of 4 parents and 3 educators had found no sexual content, but Hollie Cave said there was. So Horst and Burgoyne went with Cave’s recommendation and voted to ban the book. Lohr voted to retain it. Cross was missing in action. There was no discussion. Research on reading indicates that students are more receptive to warnings in books than the advice of their parents. In Gay Ivey and Peter Johnston’s research Teens Choosing to Read: Fostering Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Growth Through Books, Living Dead Girl is specifically mentioned :
One student, after reading Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl, realized her parents had a reason to check in on her and make sure they knew her whereabouts when she was out with friends. “My parents are like ‘stay where you’re supposed to be,’” she said. “Now I’m like, ‘Yeah, okay, I will.’”
Not in Rockingham County, though.
Then the School Board voted on two books in the popular Heartstopper series, which have no sexual content but do have gay characters. I thought they had already voted to retain these, but only volumes 1-4 in the series. Nick and Charlie and This Winter are also in this series, but in novel rather than graphic novel format. They voted to retainn these, but only for high schools. No reason given, but Hollie Cave stated in the first go round about the Heartstopper series that they had high school characters so only high schoolers should be able to read these. I guess she figured out how to accomplish this.
Kudos go to the Harrisonburg Citizen for detailed and timely coverage of RCPS School Board meetings. Local media coverage needs to be supported! Teacher asks Rockingham Co. board to create plan for responding to deportations; Books partially banned
Kudos also go to the Harrisonburg Daily News Record for the right headline in their print edition. Book bans aren’t a hoax. Click onthe image for the link.
On the national, and local front…
Executive orders are coming out fast and furious attacking trans people. One restricted health care for trans youth. I recommned subscribing to Erin Reed’s Erin in the Morning for indepth coverage on issues affecting transgender people. A Line By Line Analysis Of Trump's Youth Care Ban Executive Order is an essential read to understand what this executive order is saying.
The next executive order came out last night, entitled Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 schooling. I’m still absorbing the implications of this, but it seems vicious, basically criminalizing the slightest bit of kindness to a trans kid or anything that would make a cis white boy feel bad. In the “fact sheet” supporting this executive order, Harrisonburg City Schools are targeted specifically and incorrectly when they cite the case recently settled where three teachers sued the school system for allegedly violating their religious views. The “fact sheet” states:
Widespread indoctrination of gender ideology is a gross violation of parental rights.
Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia implemented a policy forcing teachers to “always use a student’s preferred names and pronouns” while using different ones with their parents.
Hat tip to Joe Fitzgerald, who covers this more in depth in his substack Still Not Sleeping. White House Attacks HCPS. The reality is that the training the teachers objected to was optional, they didn’t attend it, weren’t penalized for not attending or adopting the training, and were granted religious accomodations when they asked, as is standard HCPS policy.
Your job today is to correct misinformation. We are being flooded by it.
Call your congresspeople. Don’t let them think we are complacent and invisible. If you can safely speak out in a public forum, use your platform. It also helps your friends know they are not alone. That matters.
This goat’s face says all I’m thinking. Hold tight, friends. Remember to take a walk, rest, hydrate, and find joy to sustain you.
