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Wisconsin’s Kenosha Unified School District removed four books from school libraries this year, joining a nationwide debate about removing books from schools. The books, which focused on LGBTQ topics and characters, were purged for having 鈥減ornographic material,鈥� one school board member explained on social media. While their removal satisfied some residents, others worry about the effects on vulnerable kids.

On Sept. 8, Kenosha Unified School District School Board member Eric Meadows posted on Facebook about the book removals.

鈥淎 few weeks ago, several parents in the community looked into reportedly explicit books in our libraries,鈥� Meadows said in the post. 鈥淪ee my previous post about this. Since then, a national spotlight has shined on this same topic. A number of graphic books were identified as being in some of our schools through numerous open records requests from several people. The following books have been removed from our libraries, not because of the LGBT nature of them, but because of overtly explicit and obscene pictures and descriptions.鈥�

The post identifies the books as This Book is Gay, Gender Queer, Let鈥檚 Talk About It, and All Boys Aren鈥檛 Blue. 鈥淚 am opposed to exposing children to any pornographic material in school, whether LGBT or heterosexual. Neither belong in public schools,鈥� Meadows wrote in his post. 鈥淚 will work towards clarifying our policy to ensure this doesn鈥檛 happen again. I will receive a lot of anger from some in the community just for writing this. I don鈥檛 care. My first priority will be to protect the innocence of our children.鈥�

Meadows accused the Wisconsin Examiner of bias when reached for comment. He added that the district 鈥渞emoved a few books because they were sexually explicit. Those books are widely available to purchase and at the public library. 鈥� I stand by my Facebook post.鈥�

The Kenosha Unified School District didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment.

When she heard about the removals, Kenosha resident Amanda Becker said she was 鈥渓eft disappointed on a few different levels. I was disappointed that it was specifically LGBTQ+ content that was being targeted. And I was disappointed that this was happening at all.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a form of censorship and I don鈥檛 agree with it,鈥� Becker added.

Barb Farrar, director of the Southeast Wisconsin LGBT Center, said the fallout for students from removing books shouldn鈥檛 be downplayed. 鈥淎s an LGBT person, any time people are talking about taking away your freedom to read literature for young people, it鈥檚 really hurtful,鈥� Farrar told Wisconsin Examiner. To help educate community members and defeat stigma, the Center runs its own LGBTQ book club. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always by learning that you truly understand what some else鈥檚 experience is,鈥� she continued. Taking the books away from students 鈥渋s depriving them of access to being able to broaden their understanding and appreciation of others, as well as potentially their own identities.鈥�

Becker鈥檚 daughter, Ruby, who recently graduated from high school in Kenosha, remembers what it was like to come out to her classmates 鈥淗arry Styles, the pop artist, actually helped me come out at one of his concerts,鈥� she says. 鈥淧retty public coming-out my senior year, but even before that people kind of knew.鈥� Prior to attending the KUSD during her high school years, Becker went to a Catholic school. 鈥淭he change in my surroundings definitely helped me to come to terms with that part of myself.鈥� She says, 鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 change schools, I don鈥檛 know who I鈥檇 be today.鈥� Becker added, 鈥淚t was just nice finding people like me, or people who are also queer but are either non-binary, trans, just other queer experiences.鈥�

Despite finding people like her, Becker also encountered students who bullied LGBTQ students. Becker fears that things could change for students still attending Kenosha schools. She recalled conversations about banning flags and banners at school including Black Lives Matter flags, LGBTQ flags, and other banners. Becker recalled that, 鈥渢eachers were always kind of told to stay away from 鈥榗ontroversial topics which, I don鈥檛 know, my identity is not controversial, but whatever.鈥�

Farrar recalled attending annual school board meetings, where she noticed a strong anti-LGBTQ contingent among the attendees. There, Farrar told Wisconsin Examiner, 鈥渟ome people were referencing banning books鈥� trying to interject that into the meeting.鈥�

鈥淓verything started to get a lot more aggressive,鈥� Becker says of school board meetings since the pandemic, 鈥渨here people weren鈥檛 necessarily talking to each other, but more so talking at each other and kind of screaming, to where the winner was whose voice was heard the loudest.鈥� At  county budget hearings, a vocal group organized to cut education funding. 鈥淪o I think that the book thing is just the next item on the list,鈥� says Becker.

Becker read Gender Queer and This Book Is Gay. 鈥淚 thought it was good,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was a coming-of-age story about a child discovering their gender identity. And I picked it up because my older daughter has some friends that fall into the various areas of the LGBTQ+ spectrum.鈥� It took time for Becker herself to understand LGBTQ issues, and reading the book was part of that journey. 鈥淚 wanted to be able to understand it better, and I wanted to support my child and her friends.鈥� Farrar also read some of the books during the Center鈥檚 book club, and found them to be 鈥減henomenal.鈥� She said, 鈥渁ll of those books鈥� are useful for students trying to figure themselves out.

Farrar says she has heard children repeating things they heard at home, bullying LGBTQ classmates. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had examples of young children saying really hurtful things like LGBTQ students shouldn鈥檛 exist, or they shouldn鈥檛 be allowed to live,鈥� said Farrar. 鈥淚 mean just really, really hateful things.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 very targeted, and it feels organized, and very political at this time,鈥� says Farrar.

Policies banning and restricting books in schools have grown across Wisconsin since 2020. This week reports, the school district of Menomonee Falls removed more than 33 books from the high school library including titles on the Advanced Placement English Literature reading list, including The Handmaid鈥檚 Tale by Margaret Atwood, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, because they were deemed 鈥渢oo sexually explicit鈥� for students.

Last year, on a list of books furnished to Republican lawmakers by concerned parents. The books largely covered LGBTQ topics, but some also touched on racial inequality and discrimination. In an email to now Sen. Jesse James (R-Altoona), one parent described having seen books which she felt taught 鈥渙ur kids to hate cops and their white skin鈥� in elementary school classrooms.

James used the list to approach libraries within his legislative district to see whether the books were available. A nearly identical list . There, as books on the list were removed from shelves, a new policy of reporting a student鈥檚 library checkouts to parents took effect. The shift slashed the district鈥檚 student privacy policy for book checkouts, allowing only parents to opt out. Meanwhile, James and other Republican lawmakers explored ways of exposing librarians and teachers who provide certain books in class to felony charges. In May, those efforts were . This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson, one of the books removed from the KUSD, also appeared on both of those lists.

Farrar is deeply concerned by policies like Elmbrook鈥檚, which could 鈥渙ut鈥� children to their parents. 鈥淛ust because they鈥檙e interested in a book doesn鈥檛 mean anything about their identity, and that鈥檚 a complete lack of children鈥檚 privacy,鈥� said Farrar. 鈥淪o we over-emphasize parents鈥� rights, we really need to start thinking about the rights of young people to explore, and to have privacy to do that.鈥�

While Amanda Becker is prepared to support her children, she鈥檚 aware that not all of KUSD鈥檚 students have a parent in their corner. 鈥淭here鈥檚 kids out there that don鈥檛, and that鈥檚 why I feel that I need to say something,鈥� she told Wisconsin Examiner. 鈥淭hat and, you know, you give in on books and freedom to read and what鈥檚 the next thing that鈥檚 going to happen? It has the potential to have a domino effect.鈥�

Ruby Becker tells current students to 鈥渇ind community with your peers. Try and find a teacher who you can trust, and be 100% yourself around.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: [email protected]. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on and .

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