The Newtown Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to keep two books in the Newtown High School library.
There has been ongoing debate for weeks over the future of the books “Flamer” by Mike Curato and “Blankets” by Craig Thompson. Both are coming-of-age novels that discuss sexuality and gender identity.
Those in favor of the proposed ban argued the books contain graphic sexual content and should be removed. However, those who wanted to keep the books accessible to students said the proposed ban was an attempt to remove LGBTQ+ books from the school library and would be a form of censorship for Queer youth.
Speaking Thursday, Board Member Dan Cruson, who was against the proposed ban, said he’s glad the books weren’t banned. Cruson said he didn’t think the books fit the legal criteria to be classified as obscene, as those in support of a ban argued they were. As a former comic book store owner, he’s been monitoring initiatives to ban graphic novels.
“I’m happy that the board was able to come to a unanimous decision. I’ve always been opposed to banning books. That said, I still did my research on these and read the books,” Cruson said.
The decision came one day after the resignation of two Republican Board of Education members. Janet Kuzma and Jennifer Larkin stepped down Wednesday ahead of Thursday's vote.
That resignation shifted the makeup of the board to two Republicans and three Democrats. Prior to the move, the board had been deadlocked 3-to-3 over whether or not the books should be banned. With a Republican majority leaning to ban the books.
More than a dozen students spoke up against the proposed ban and how it would hurt LGBTQ students who have historically not had access to similar books.
Kate Shirk, senior class president at Newtown High School says books like these would benefit queer students.
“Books like these offer hope. They offer a path forward, a way to live when it seems impossible. We have these books and we will not let them be taken away from us,” Shirk said.
“I can tell you that on the off chance you get a kid picking up a book like this, they’re doing it for community, for reassurance, for comfort. For a thousand reasons beyond what you reduce us to by claiming kids can’t handle these topics.”
Several students argue that sexually explicit content and nudity is something they encounter on a daily basis, on Snapchat or other social media platforms.
Students like Naiya Amin, who has been in the Newtown Public School system for 10 years, says instances of sex or sexual violence has also been in required readings for years.
“Sexual explicitly is not a valid reason to pull books off school shelves when its required readings include the same,” Amin said. “I hope this is obvious that this is not just about one book. A book ban is a slippery slope and the fact that this is a difficult decision scares me.”
