Controversy continues to swirl in Barrington Community Unit District 220 over the book “Gender Queer,” as parents who object to its presence in the Barrington High School library and those who support it spoke out again Tuesday before the board of education.
Meanwhile, district officials say they are proceeding with a formal review of the memoir to determine whether it belongs on the library shelves.
Delivering an update at Tuesday’s board meeting, Superintendent Robert Hunt said the district is following its procedures for evaluating the book, which is not part of the district’s curriculum, isn’t used in any instructional material and isn’t available in middle school libraries.
Board member Katie Karam said the big issue involves a discussion on how the district curates books for school libraries and what should be considered sexually explicit material.
The meeting Tuesday was highly charged, with prolonged and often emotional public comment from those who view the book as pornographic, those advocating for the freedom to read and those who support LGBTQ+ students. Many carried signs with slogans such as “Our children need to be taught how to think not what to think.”
Jenna Shields, a parent in the district, said a petition being circulated expressing the need to “filter obscene and pornographic content across all media and resources” already has received more than 1,300 signatures.
“That content has been promoted by the teachers and is available to our students,” she said. “The idea of parents having to filter for this or routinely opt out is unacceptable. While many policies exist to address obscene or pornographic content, the school library policy still needs to be updated.”
Read more here.
Related: “Petition started to ‘Filter Adult Obscene/Porn Content & SB818 Opt Out,’ in D220 Schools”