In Fairfax County, Virginia, a national controversy is currently unfolding over the school library books.
Parents across the country have gone viral for reading sexual passages from books found at school council meetings in their children’s schools.
Fairfax County’s mother Stacy Langton said after hearing about sexual content in other school libraries. got her to attend her own children’s school, Fairfax High School, to do some research.
Langton said she found two books that describe sexual acts: the graphic novel “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and the novel “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison.
“So this is pedophilia. This is a man who has sex with a boy, ”Langton said while video calling News4 to one of the books. “Here the figure is masturbating.”
“I don’t know how you defend it. Why should you write something like this? It’s like that – just garbage. It’s absolute shit, ”she said.
Langton spoke at the school board meeting Thursday night.
“The illustrations include fellatio, sex toys,” she said at the meeting.
In the middle of the session, school officials appeared to cut them off and said there were children in the audience.
“Don’t interrupt my time! Don’t interrupt my time!” Langton answered.
The Fairfax County Public Schools announced that they would temporarily lock the two books from the library. A committee of students, staff, and parents will then review the books and make a final decision.
The writer Jonathan Evison said he stood by his work.
“Lawn Boy is a coming-of-age novel,” said Evison. “It’s innocent sexual experiments between children that are actually a common trope in coming-of-age novels.”
Families in Leander, Texas, have also raised concerns about the book Lawn Boy. According to the Leander Police Department, two parents have even filed charges.
“The consequences have been terrible. I’ve received death threats,” said Evison. “It’s pretty worrying and I’ve been trying to protect my family.”
Langton said she was trying to appeal the books to the school system.
News4 has asked the author of “Gender Queer” for a comment, but has not yet received a response.