In Downer’s Grove, Illinois, Congressman Sean Casten hosted a ‘book banning’ roundtable a few weeks ago. Terry Newsome, President of Parents Involved In Education, parked himself in front of the congressman during the meeting and was holding up placards depicting pornographic images from the book Gender Queer that is in the local school district’s libraries. Congressman Casten was flustered by the images that Newsome presented. In the process of trying to discredit Terry Newsome, Congressman Casten inadvertently admitted that the placards were offensive, inappropriate, and pornographic. We saw this recently as Sen. John Kennedy (LA) read passages from pornographic books ‘Genderqueer’ and ‘All Boys are Blue’ at a recent Senate Hearing. Senate witness and Illinois Sec. of State Alexi Giannoulias responded by saying "Those words are disturbing coming from your mouth." Once again stating it is not appropriate for him but appropriate for our children. An Illinois new law, signed by Illinois Governor Pritzger, stops parents from being able to remove it from libraries.
 |
| File Photo |
I interviewed Terry Newsome several times since the Downer’s Grove roundtable and he continues to speak out about the assault on parental rights in America. Newsome said in a recent interview with ABC7-Chicago, “They call us book banners, but we’re not banning books….Heterosexual or homosexual, it doesn’t belong in the school.” The exposure of our children to graphic language and images at a formidable age is the issue. It is not about ‘book banning’ but age appropriateness of certain materials.
The conversation is timely as Congress has hosted spectacular hearings on these issues over the past month. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland apparently authorized the FBI to investigate parents as “domestic terrorists” were vocal at school board meetings. There are accusations that Garland helped the National School Board Association craft a memo to the President requesting the assistance of the federal government on this matter. The Washington Examiner reported, “The attorney general's directive came five days after the National School Board’s Association wrote a letter to the president asking for federal assistance.” Congressman Chip Roy (TX) pressed Merrick Garland at yesterday’s Congressional hearings, "You sent on a memo on Oct. 4, 2021, directing the FBI and U.S. attorney's office to address 'harassment of school boards.'”
In our schools, your children can read about and see things that you would never allow in your homes, and they can read about and see things that as a parent you are not allowed to repeat or visually share at school board meetings. You can’t take your kids to an NC17 rated movie but they have open access to graphic material in their schools.
We see the same thing happening nationwide, where parent after parent are reading excerpts from books that are in our schools and accessible by kids grades K through 12. The school board members consistently try to shut them down because the language and images the parents are presenting are too offensive for everyone to hear it at the meetings. So how is this okay for our children to read and see it in our schools and libraries?