Letter: Why are we afraid of LGBTQ+ books in York? I wish I had such resources

In 2007, I graduated from York Middle School with no understanding about who I am because there were no role models, there was no information, and there were no resources for LGBTQ+ kids. I am who I am today despite the complete lack of resources I had growing up, not because of it. There is no one better than queer kids to tell us that book bans do a lot more harm than good. 

I understand that these efforts may come from a place of goodwill; we all want what’s best for our students. But they also come from a deep fear of what we think they’ll do to our non-LGBTQ+ students. 

I invite us, as a community, to interrogate this fear. Why are we so afraid of books that include information about LGBTQ+ people? Answering this question will require us to understand that this book and others like it provide queer, trans and nonbinary kids with accurate, developmentally appropriate information to help them understand themselves and how they operate in this world.

Books like these save lives, particularly in small, homogenous towns in which their rights are under attack by adults. This book likely has little impact on non-LGBTQ+ kids, particularly since it isn’t part of the curriculum and hasn’t been checked out of the library in four years. Much more likely, it’s the case that even students who could benefit from it don’t know it’s there. 

However afraid we are of this book, I’m 10 times more afraid of what a complete lack of resources will keep doing to our young LGBTQ+ students. As a YMS alum, a queer person and a K-12 education policy expert, I implore this community to confront our fear in an effort to better serve all York students. 

Read the full article here.