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Kate Burton's avatar

I am grateful to Heather Cox Richardson for posting about Moms for Liberty. I recently had to defend an LGBTQIA book ("Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe) when it was challenged by them. As a high school librarian I want to ensure that all of my students feel welcome, represented, respected and valued by the library. I live in Vancouver, WA and was surprised when the challenge came about. My school happened to be the only one in the district and in fact in any of the neighboring districts in SW Washington that had "Gender Queer" so I had to defend it by myself. I received over 35 hateful emails sent personally to me asking me to remove it. My superintendent received an email asking that I be fired, arrested and made to make a public apology. I was called a pervert, a pedophile, and a groomer. I was grateful that the district protocol in place was followed and I was able to retain the book in my library. The challenge committee they formed voted 10 to 2 with one abstention to keep it. One thing to note, the book increased in popularity over this action at my library and 2 other schools decided to add it to their high school library collections. In addition one important thing I realized as I read the hateful emails that I received was that this was the kind of hate that my LGBTQIA students and staff receive on a regular basis. This experience increased my empathy for them. I have always supported all of my students, but this helped me better understand what they go through. Although I didn't want this to happen, I feel that it has shown me just how critical it is to ensure that my collection meets the needs of my entire community.

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yeildo14's avatar

Moms for Liberty. We can all rest assured that if a group has liberty or freedom in its name said group is working hard to take those very things from us.

Moms For Klanned Karenhood is more like it.

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