This story is from Rochester, Minnesota. Some would say it is a narrative of narrow-minded oppression. Why shouldn’t elementary school students be instructed–by the public schools–in the gay S/M culture?
The local newspaper headlines: “Rochester Pride cancels reading by Emily Neilson, whose book was removed from Franklin Elementary.”
After planning to travel halfway across the country to visit the community where her book was removed from the shelves of an elementary school media center, the reading by author Emily Neilson has been canceled due to safety concerns.
No more information on that. My guess is there is zero chance there were any legitimate safety concerns.
The book is The Rainbow Parade:
The Pride organization reached out to Neilson following the book’s removal from Franklin Elementary in southeast Rochester last year.
Rochester Pride had purchased 250 copies of the book to give away during the reading.
So I guess the book wasn’t actually banned. In fact, it is still in the Franklin Elementary school’s “media center,” it just isn’t on the shelves. An eight-year-old will have to ask for it.
In 2024, Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel announced he would direct the removal of “The Rainbow Parade” after a parent filed a complaint about it with the school district. The picture book is about a Pride parade in San Francisco.
The book was reviewed by a committee assembled by the district, which ultimately voted 9-1 to keep the book on the shelves in the media center.
Utterly appalling. Those nine people are lunatics.
Despite the committee’s vote, Pekel decided to remove the book from the media center’s open shelves.
In a memo he wrote on the issue, Pekel attributed his reasoning to the fact that the book depicted public nudity. In subsequent comments, he said the depiction of men in leather, one of whom was holding a leash attached to a collar that the other man was wearing, was also a contributing factor to his decision. He described it as an issue of developmental appropriateness.
Well, yes. We are talking about little kids here. They probably should be at least 11 or 12 before they learn about gay S/M practices.
The decision prompted Rochester Pride to write an open letter to both Pekel and the Rochester School Board about the decision.
“It sends a message that LGBTQIA+ representation is acceptable only when it conforms to specific, narrow standards deemed ‘appropriate’ by a single individual, effectively silencing certain voices and experiences,” Rochester Pride wrote in its letter.
But it isn’t actually about “silencing certain voices,” which, as was noted long ago, can’t shut up. Rather, it is about not telling small children that certain deviant behavior is A-OK, and has the gold seal of approval from their schools, their parents and their community.
As best one can tell, there is just one sane person in this story–Superintendent Kent Pekel. Also, the parents who learned about this book’s promotion by the school and complained.
