The new president of one of Pennsylvania’s largest school districts was sworn into office with her hand on sexually-explicit LGBT propaganda and “banned” books. Democrat Karen Smith took up her new position Monday night as the head of the Central Bucks School District (CBSD) and immediately moved to undo Republican-led, pro-parent, and pro-family policies. For the swearing-in ceremony, Smith chose to place her hand not on a Bible but on a stack of frequently-banned books, including “Flamer,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” Beyond Magenta,” “Lily and Dunkin,” and “The Bluest Eye.”
“I’m not particularly religious,” Smith explained. “The Bible doesn’t hold significant meaning for me, and given everything that has occurred in the last couple of years, the banned books, they do mean something to me at this point.” Both “Flamer” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” feature explicit depictions of homosexual activity, with the graphic novel “Flamer” including illustrations of nude teenage boys showering and masturbating. “Flamer” is centered on an overweight teenage boy who identifies as homosexual navigating puberty during a Boy Scouts summer camp, while “All Boys Aren’t Blue” is about a young black man who identifies as homosexual growing up in New Jersey and Virginia.
“Beyond Magenta” is built around a series of interviews with teenagers who identify as transgender. “Lily and Dunkin” tells the story of “Lily Jo,” born as Timothy, an eighth-grade biological boy who identifies as a girl. “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison features a passage in which a nine-year-old girl is raped and impregnated by her father, prompting a number of schools and libraries across the nation to bar the books from being accessed by children. In fact, all of the books Smith used for her swearing-in ceremony (with the exception of Elie Wiesel’s testimonial Holocaust novel “Night”) have been subjects of recent controversy and many have been banned from classrooms or libraries for their sexually-explicit and ideologically-charged content.
Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, commented to The Washington Stand, “People and political forces who would use children to advance their evil ideologies may have momentary successes or seem to win the day, but in the end we know that God wins.”
She continued, “The effort to reform American education is going to require the same kind of ‘long march’ through the institutions that got us here in the first place. We will have victories and setbacks, but the most important requirement is that we not give up. There are children’s souls and futures on the line, along with our nation.”
Under Republican leadership, the Central Bucks school board had successfully banned the controversial books “Gender Queer” and “This Book Is Gay” and about 60 other books — including many of those Smith brought to her swearing-in ceremony — were being reviewed for removal from classrooms and school libraries. The Republican board also previously blocked teachers from displaying politically- or sexually-charged imagery, such as rainbow Pride flags, in classrooms and mandated parental notification policies, requiring teachers to inform parents of students’ social gender transition attempts or requests. Additionally, Republicans on the board approved a policy barring biological boys identifying as transgender from competing in girls’ sports.
Voters flipped the board’s political makeup last month, handing Democrats a 6-3 majority. Led by Smith, Democrats instantly began undoing pro-parent policies. First, the new board suspended the ban on sexually explicit books. Although “Gender Queer” and “This Book Is Gay” were already removed, Smith said that the other 60 books or so flagged for sexually explicit content are “definitely not going to be reviewed at this point.” Next, the new board undid the policies barring biological boys from participating in girls’ sports and forbidding teachers from flying LGBT Pride flags in classrooms.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
