A Florida school board member filed a criminal lawsuit against the local sheriff’s office over LGBTQ memoirs found in the school library.
Jill Woolbright, a member of the Flag County School Board, commented last week on “All Boys Are Not Blue” by New Jersey writer, journalist, and LGBTQ activist George M. Johnson (George M. Johnson). Complaint about pornography in “All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto” (All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto). This book was found on the shelves of Palm Coast High School, Matanzas High School, and Buddy Taylor High School.
“I have no opinion on this book-I do have a problem with the placement of this book,” Woolbright told the Florida news media WESH. “Some children may be upset by reading books they haven’t prepared yet.”
Johnson’s memoir manifesto described in detail their lives and how it felt to grow up as a black, non-dual, and queer person in the United States. It explores racism, homophobia, toxic masculinity, white supremacy, sexual assault, and loss of virginity.
“I thought about it [readers] Know that there are already people in the world like them; Johnson said. Their memoirs also come with a content warning, telling readers that there are graphic content based on the author’s personal experience.
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A member of the school board told the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office that “it is a crime to put this book in the media center,” WESH reported. Woolbright admitted that she did not read the entire book, but found that two chapters related to sexual contact were particularly offensive.
“Chapter 11 discusses descriptive issues about masturbation and oral sex in detail. Chapter 15’Twice Loss of Virginity’ is also very descriptive, discussing masturbation, oral sex and sodomy,” she told the police.
According to WESH, Woolbright believes that the book is not suitable for students in the school district, so she told the principal of her concerns, but she said that the school board members were not notified as requested.
Earlier this month, Woolbright questioned whether media centers in the area follow specific book selection and approval policies, or whether there are manuals to advise them. She suggested that if “because of our lack of procedures to pass in a certain way”, there may be more inappropriate books on the library shelves.
Woolbright told WESH that if part of Johnson’s book is obscene, then its content is not important.
“It’s not even about my opinion — it’s about state law,” she continued, referring to Chapter 1006 of the state statute on supporting learning services. The law reviews how the school board manages the content that students can access. It also pointed out that any pornographic content is not suitable for students.
Johnson wants their book (mainly for black and queer youth) to face criticism, but wants to tell the truth about growing up at these intersections. They added that although their books have been deleted by some schools in other states, it is important to let teenagers know that they are not alone.
“My book is not about hurting your children—it is that you will hurt them by not allowing them to hurt your children: understand that there are other people in this world who have different life experiences with them, two: they are not allowed to have Language or this special resource to deal with the problems that arise in this world,” Johnson said.
According to WESH, some Flag County school students plan to protest the censorship and Woolbright’s complaints on November 16.
Weekly newspaper The school district was contacted for comments.
