A Manitoba woman’s call to ban certain LGBTQ2 and sex education books from libraries in Brandon School Division (BSD) is being met with both approval and widespread outrage.
“Being Jazz” and “It’s perfectly normal” — two books exploring LGBTQ2 and sex education topics available in libraries across the province — are among the non-fiction a woman and her supporters are challenging and want removed from BSD libraries.
“We must protect our children from sexual grooming and pedophilia,” Lorraine Hackenschmidt told the school division’s board of trustees on Monday.
At the meeting, Hackenschmidt requested they create a committee to examine and remove books she called “harmful” for children. The grandmother voiced concerns about books with sexually explicit language and images along with content about a transgender teen.
“I just ask that you would remove any books that cause our kids to question whether they are in the wrong body,” she said.
Hackenschmidt’s stance is staunchly opposed by people working in education, libraries and LGBTQ2 supports, including Ashley Smith with Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Centre.
“Queer content does not make queer youth, and there is plenty of research to support that, that queer youth are in the midst of a mental health crisis with alarmingly high suicide rates,” Smith, the centre’s director of advocacy, told Global News on Thursday.
“Here we are after all these decades, after winning our rights … here we are once again trying to defend ourselves,” Smith said.
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Candy Jones, who chairs Brandon University’s department of curriculum and pedagogy, says libraries and schools have an obligation to meet the needs of the entire community.
“Children need to see their realities and their identities reflected in the curricula and in the libraries that they visit,” Jones said.
“It’s important for them to feel that their life and their experiences are legitimate and valued.”
Sexual orientation and gender identity make up some of the subjects Jones explores in her courses, topics she considers vital for identity development in both students and teachers.
“Schools should be safe places,” Jones said. She acknowledged the conversation and debate over books could make children feel afraid and trigger others with negative past experiences.
“There are many things that would be in a public library, especially that wouldn’t align with a person’s beliefs or values, and we don’t ban them,” Jones said.
The president of the Manitoba Library Association Melanie Sucha says the push to censor library materials is also offensive to their professional values.
“Not only are we seeing an affront to intellectual freedom and the freedom to read, but we are seeing this challenge to materials very much as a veil to propagate an anti-LGBTQIA position, and we see it as discriminatory and bigoted.”
Meanwhile, BSD issued a statement Thursday saying the books were still available at its libraries.
“Brandon School Division continues to support learning environments that respect and embrace diversity, create welcoming and safe spaces, raise awareness and learning, support and protect everyone, including transgender and gender diverse people, and others who have not yet identified,” a spokesperson said.
“Gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation are protected rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Manitoba Human Rights Code.”
Hackenschmidt got a standing ovation from her supporters after her presentation Monday.
The board says it’ll review her request. Their next meeting is May 23.
— with files from Global’s Rosanna Hempel
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