Quote:Sen. Kennedy reads passages from pornographic books Genderqueer and All Boys are Blue.

The Illinois Sec. of State Alexi Giannoulias responds by saying "those words are disturbing coming from your mouth."

His state's new law stops parents from being able to remove it from libraries.

Quote:Republican Sen. John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana read from a pornographic book at a Senate hearing on Tuesday amid a heated exchange about school boards removing such books from libraries.


Kennedy read from two books — “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “Gender Queer: A Memoir” — both which have been removed from bookshelves in school districts across the country over their sexual conduct. The hearing, titled “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature,” was held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I put some lube on and got him on his knees and I began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated. He asked me to turn over while he slipped a condom on himself. This was my ass, and I was struggling to imagine someone inside me. He got on top and slowly inserted himself into me. It was the worst pain I think I have ever felt in my life. Eventually, I felt a mix of pleasure with the pain,” Kennedy read from “All Boys Aren’t Blue.”
The book is described as a “young-adult memoir [that] weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys” on Amazon.

Quote:.@SenJohnKennedy reads passages from Bokmål All Boys Aren’t Blue and Genderqueer
“I put some lube on and got him on his knees and I began sliding into him from behind,” Kennedy read.
pic.twitter.com/AKxz6J50zC
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) September 12, 2023

“I got a new strap-on harness today. I can’t wait to put it on you. It will fit my favorite dildo perfectly. You’re going to look so hot. I can’t wait to have your cock in my mouth. I am going to give you the blowjob of your life. Then I want you inside of me,” he read from “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe.

Kennedy then questioned Democratic Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias of Illinois, a witness at the hearing, about whether he thought the book should be available to kids, as well as Cameron Samuels, a student who uses “they/them” pronouns and had a placard with the title “Mx. Cameron Samuels.”

“It’s pronounced Mix,” Samuels said. “Senator, your definition of ‘sexual’ is synonymous with LGBTQ identity.”

Samuels went on to say that there should be “collaboration between students, parents, and educators” on the availability of books and defended the books from which Kennedy read.

“All Boys Aren’t Blue, the scene you mentioned, is about sexual abuse. It’s not erotic … Students who do not read books like All Boys Aren’t Blue cannot learn what is appropriate,” Samuels said.

“All I’ve heard is the librarians [get to decide] and parents have nothing to do with it. If that’s your response, what planet did you just parachute in from? Or what country, more appropriately? This is not China,” Kennedy said.

“Mr. Secretary, I understand this is good for your politics back home,” he told Giannoulias. “It has everything to do with your politics. You came here with a problem. I’m trying to understand the solution, but you don’t have one.”

Quote:[b]FORT WORTH, Texas[/b] - Earlier this month, Fort Worth ISD announced it removed three books from elementary and middle school libraries.


The district says the graphic, sexual content or gender identity exploration in the books is not appropriate for students that age.

The move came after a conservative social media account shared news of Fort Worth ISD having those books in those libraries.

Two dozen people signed up to speak during public comment. Three different speakers began reading excerpts from the graphic books, but they were cut off by the school board and district staff because the language was inappropriate. The speakers wondered if they can’t read it to the board, why can their kids read it?

(09-13-2023, 10:51 PM)DaphneApollo Wrote: I’ll bet Linsey Graham was enjoying listening to those graphic excerpts.  

*GIGGLES*

Quote:"The Peel District School Board works to ensure that the books available in our school libraries are culturally responsive, relevant, inclusive, and reflective of the diversity of our school communities and the broader society," said the board.

CBC Toronto reviewed a copy of the internal PDSB documents Ellard's group obtained, which includes frequently asked questions and answers provided to school staff by the board, and a more detailed manual for the process titled "Weeding and Audit of Resource in the Library Learning Commons collection."

The documents lay out an "equitable curation cycle" for weeding, which it says was created to support Directive 18 from the Minister of Education based on a 2020 Ministry review and report on widespread issues of systematic discrimination within the PDSB. 

Directive 18 instructs the board to complete a diversity audit of schools, which includes libraries.

"The Board shall evaluate books, media and all other resources currently in use for teaching and learning English, History and Social Sciences for the purpose of utilizing resources that are inclusive and culturally responsive, relevant and reflective of students, and the Board's broader school communities," reads the directive.

PDSB's "equitable curation cycle" is described generally in the board document as "a three-step process that holds Peel staff accountable for being critically conscious of how systems operate, so that we can dismantle inequities and foster practices that are culturally responsive and relevant."

First, teacher librarians were instructed to focus on reviewing books that were published 15 or more years ago — so in 2008 or earlier.


Then, librarians were to go through each of those books and consider the widely-used "MUSTIE'' acronym adapted from Canadian School Libraries. The letters stand for the criteria librarians are supposed to consider, and they include: 

• Misleading – information may be factually inaccurate or obsolete.               
  
• Unpleasant – refers to the physical condition of the book, may require replacement.
  
• Superseded – book been overtaken by a new edition or a more current resource. 
  
• Trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific merit; poorly written or presented.                
  
• Irrelevant – doesn't meet the needs and interests of the library's community.                
  
• Elsewhere – the book or the material in it may be better obtained from other sources. 
  
  

The deadline to complete this step was the end of June, according to the document. 

Step two of curation is an anti-racist and inclusive audit, where quality is defined by "resources that promote anti-racism, cultural responsiveness and inclusivity." And step three is a representation audit of how books and other resources reflect student diversity.



When it comes to disposing of the books that are weeded, the board documents say the resources are "causing harm," either as a health hazard because of the condition of the book or because "they are not inclusive, culturally responsive, relevant or accurate."
For those reasons, the documents say the books cannot be donated, as "they are not suitable for any learners."