The ongoing battle between Progressives and Conservatives over books in school libraries rages on.  Conservatives continue to call for removing certain books from library shelves on the grounds that they are “sexually explicit,” and Progressives respond that “book bans” are a “suppression of intellectual freedom rights.” A glance at just a few of the books in Loudoun County Public School (LCPS) libraries quickly reveals the truth.  In Love & Other Curses, at another high school, a teenager dressed in drag performs oral sex on his new boyfriend. Gender Queer includes a scene of two girls, one administering oral sex to the other who’s wearing a strap-on penis. In case you can’t quite picture that, an illustration is helpfully provided. 

There can be no doubt that this sexually-explicit material is pornography.

County libraries at the elementary level contain dozens of book titles promoting the gender transitioning of minors. Jack (not Jackie), recommended for children AS YOUNG AS TWO, is about a little girl who decides she’s a boy and can be found at four elementary school libraries in the county. Colorful, cartoon-style story books that normalize homosexuality such as Rainbow: A First Book of Pride and Pride Puppy specifically target PRESCHOOLERS. Too Bright to See describes a teen’s journey to transgenderism guided by the ghost of her drag queen uncle. It can be found in more than half of LCPS elementary schools.  These are but a few examples.

Graphic descriptions and references to heterosexual sex, too explicit to quote here, are also in LCPS library books, some obligingly translated into Spanish but all paid for with county tax dollars. With limited budgets, every school purchase of a sexually-explicit book means one less book on life skills, entrepreneurship, English as a Second Language, and math.

While Democrats decry the fact that this issue has become politicized, legislation has only become necessary because parents’ concerns have been dismissed by librarians and school boards. In the 2023 Virginia legislative session, Democrats, including Delegate Suhas Subramanyan, killed two Republican bills that would have placed reasonable guardrails on sexually-explicit books, such as a simple “opt-out” by parents. Even worse, in the 2024 session, Democrats introduced legislation to actually prohibit the removal of books in any public elementary or secondary school. 

This is not about “censoring” books for children who have their parents’ approval. This is about allowing all parents the right to exercise judgement as to what their own children can and should be exposed based on their cultural values.

Sadly, what has been lost in this discussion is the fact that some children simply are not ready for this material. Multiple studies emphasize life-long, negative effects on children exposed to pornography early in life (see Australian Childhood Foundation, Institute for Family Studies, and UNICEF). For some children who have been sexually abused, sexually-explicit books may serve as a trigger to trauma. For sensitive children, this material may be shocking and more than they can emotionally handle. Undoubtedly, most children will be confused by images that show girls with penises.

If our schools are to be truly inclusive, with respect for the cultural values of Conservatives, we must recognize that parents are still the best arbiters of what is best for their own child. Suhas Subramanyam’s votes are a warning about what he holds dear, and it is clearly not family values.