Michigan mom blasts sexually explicit material found in school libraries
A mother in Dearborn, Mich., confronts the school board over libraries' inclusion of author Mike Curato's controversial book "Flamer."
A man was forcibly removed by security at a Texas school board meeting Tuesday night as he attempted to read an LGBTQ graphic novel from the podium.
A video of the incident posted to social media by Paul Leavitt shows the unidentified man begin reading an excerpt from the graphic novel "Flamer" by Mike Curato, in which a character asks, "Who wants my hot wiener?"
One Fort Worth Independent School District board member abruptly slams down her gavel and calls for security. As the man begins reading from the following page, an officer walks across the room, where he is met by two other security personnel.
The three officers surround the man who holds onto the microphone and continues to read. People in the audience begin shouting over one another and the board member slams her gavel repeatedly.
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"Flamer" was written by award-winning author and artist Mike Curato and released in 2020. (Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks)
Two security officers grab the man's arms while the third holds his hand against his chest. The crowd then grows louder in anger, with one person shouting, "hey, easy now, easy."
Another crowd member yells, "Hey, he's not breaking the law." The officers then escort the man out of the room as the crowd murmurs and shouts with some holding up signs. One person yells "unconstitutional" as the men leave the auditorium.
In a second video shown from a separate angle, the man claims the book is being shown in the school as one officer repeatedly pushes him and grabs him. Angry parents surround the officer and the man and constantly yell at the officer to stop shoving him. Eventually, the man is escorted out of the building.
"Flamer" is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel set in 1995. It tells the story of Aiden, who is bullied at a Boy Scouts summer camp for "acting in a manner considered stereotypical of gay men."
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One of the controversial pages from "Flamer" discussing masturbation and oral sex. (Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks)
The American Library Association highlighted "Flamer" as one of the most "banned books" of 2022. The book has been challenged in at least 62 schools for its LGBTQ content and sexually explicit material.
According to PEN America, a literature advocacy group, "Flamer" shared the top spot for "most banned books in the U.S. during the first half of the 2022-23 school year.
Curato has previously spoken out against the controversy surrounding his book and others, calling it a "politically motivated movement" and a "distraction."
"I think any LGBTQ-themed book is automatically going to be stigmatized as 'sexual,' because queer people are sexualized in this country and not seen as three-dimensional people," Curato told KTLA 5.
Parents across the country have voiced concern about school pushing ideologies that promote gender transition on students. (YouTube/Screenshot)
Curato has also said it is easy for bad actors to pull specific images out of context from his graphic novel, "making it seem like the book is about sex, which it's not."
He has stressed that the book is a novel "for teenagers about teenage life and teenage situations." The book is aimed at readers from ages 14-18.
"It's an honest book," Curato added. "But there's nothing worse than what you'd find in a Judy Blume book."
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Critics of the book have pointed to several illustrations as cause for alarm. One panel shows a teenage boy bending down in a shower while another cleans himself. The boy is also shown ogling the bodies of other students. No genitalia is shown in these depictions.
Fort Worth Independent School District did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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