FROM OUR PRINTED FEB 2024 EDITION
by Kristen Brissette
Barnstable Broadside
Cape and Islands Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro) has filed a bill to make it nearly impossible to remove inappropriate, sexually explicit books from all public school libraries in Massachusetts.
Senator Cyr and State Representative John Francis Moran (D-Suffolk) filed House Bill-4229 and Senate Bill-2528, named “An Act Regarding Free Expression.” If passed, the bills will give public school librarians the discretion to keep sexually explicit books in Grades K-12 public school libraries. The bills will take away the ability for parents to request these vulgar books be removed from the libraries that their children visit. School librarians, not parents, will decide what books are appropriate for children.
If passed, the bills will remove any discretion from local school committees to determine if a book is or is not appropriate for students in their school district. School committees will be prevented from removing an explicit book from a library unless the book is “devoid of any educational, literary, artistic or social value or is not age appropriate for any children who attend the school.” This means that if a book could be deemed appropriate for a high school senior, it must be kept in the school library.
In a November 8, 2023 statement posted to his website, Cyr explains that he is safeguarding free expression in school libraries. “Massachusetts is home to the nation’s first public library and first public school because we have long appreciated that unabridged access to knowledge is key to opportunity and fulfillment. At this sad moment when hate and fear are driving too many cruel policies across the nation, and yes closer to home, Massachusetts must continue to champion values of equity and belonging. Indeed, books are among our most compelling windows into the myriad of human experiences and capture the breadth of knowledge. We cannot allow small-minded bans or politically opportunist censorship interfere with the right to read,” Cyr wrote.
Included in Cyr’s statement, Mary Rose Quinn, head of state programs and government liaison for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, was quoted as saying, “The Free Expression legislation proposed by Senator Cyr benefits everyone in the Commonwealth. By protecting library funding and library staff, it allows librarians to continue to develop collections that meet the diverse needs of the people they serve ensuring their right to read.”
Also in the statement, Barb Fecteau, president of the Massachusetts School Library Association, applauds Senator Cyr’s bill. “K-12 students have the right to read freely. Licensed school library teachers are trained to acquire materials that represent all of the students they serve. This bill will help licensed school library teachers fulfill their professional duties to the students of the Commonwealth,” wrote Fecteau.
Amy Raff, director of the Provincetown Public Library, was quoted in the statement, writing, “This legislation could not come at a better time due to the recent scourge of book challenges and bans across the country. Libraries and librarians are committed to defending the freedom to read and to ensuring the free, direct access to information. We are devoted to supporting the curiosity and inquiry of readers. Reading is one the most important ways that we learn about ourselves and the world around us. It is the place where we see ourselves reflected in characters where we learn about experiences other than our own, and to take that away is detrimental to a democratic society.”
According to Chair of the Truro Library Board of Trustees Kait Blehm, “Public libraries play a crucial role in communities by fostering intellectual freedom and providing access to information and knowledge. This bill is vital in the protections it provides for librarians who uphold these principles everyday in order to ensure that diverse perspectives can be explored without fear of censorship or retaliation.”
One book that is on the shelves of school libraries that these four women are offering to minor children is My Body is Growing – A Guide for Children 4-8 Years Old by Dagmar Geisler. The pages of this book are filled with graphic descriptions of sexual acts, vulgar text, and disturbing images. Children can view illustrations of undressed children showing private body parts, illustrations of two people performing anal and oral sex, and they can read text that explains issues such as gender, sexual abuse, incest, puberty, and pregnancy. Visit www.goodreads.com to read the many comments regarding this book describing it as “filth,” “absolutely disgusting,” sexual content is too graphic,” “the author should hang her head in shame,” and “a child described it as ‘scary.’”
The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) is a non-profit, Christian organization with a mission to strengthen the family. MFI has dubbed these bills the Pornographic Schoolbook Bills. According to MFI, “Under the guise of preventing ‘book banning,’ radical legislators want to stop local school committees from protecting children from age-inappropriate content at school. Parents, through the elected school committee members who represent them, should have the ultimate say on what content is appropriate for their children.”
MFI Attorney Sam Whiting recently testified before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Education against these bills that will force schools to keep pornographic books on their library shelves. Attorney Whiting stated, “these bills would remove almost all meaningful limits on what materials a child can access at school, strip away authority from local school committees, and even expose schools to lawsuits if they remove sexually explicit books.”
According to the MFI website, “Many activist librarians showed up at yesterday’s hearing to testify that these bills are necessary to prevent small-minded and homophobic parents from banning books. We need your help to stand against these dishonest attacks and convince our legislators that local school committees should be able to protect kids from pornographic material in school libraries.” Whiting also testified that “The bills will take away authority from local school committees, and expose schools to lawsuits if they remove sexually explicit, vulgar books. These bills would put local school committees in a straightjacket by posing the views of state legislators in every school district in the Commonwealth. Local school districts should have discretion to keep age inappropriate, vulgar, and explicit books out of their school libraries. These bills would eviscerate that discretion by removing almost all limits on what material a child can access.” Video of Attorney Whiting’s testimony is available to watch at www.mafamily.org. Also on the MFI website, there is an area to contact the Legislature to encourage elected officials to vote these bills down.
These bills are an attack on parental rights and the innocence of children. Parents, not school librarians, should have the ultimate say on what content is appropriate for their children. Senator Cyr is being challenged by candidate Chris Lauzon (R) in the general election on November 5, 2024. Many voters feel it is time for a change. ♦
What the hell is wrong with people who vote for perverted candidates like Cyr. Don’t they care about their own kids, especially the very young ones, in the schools.