DEARBORN, MI (WXYZ) — Impassioned parents packed out Stout Middle School during Dearborn’s School Board meeting Thursday night.
Six books were at the center of the conflict. Four of them have LGBTQ themes.
A group of parents wants them removed from school library shelves. They feel as if they are too sexually explicit, violent, and not age appropriate.
“How do these books even end up in our library," one parent questions. "I mean these books are really bad. When I'm looking at it I cringe. They don’t belong in the hands of 13, 14, 15-year-old kids."
"Stop pretending this is about protecting children from books," another parent says. "We all know this is about erasing our LGBTQ students. It was literally written on signs that people brought to the meeting on Monday."
Because of the outcry, no students can check out the books under question while the board re-evaluates their process of reviewing books.
"The only books that my son can read are about slavery and lynching. Things that I find disgusting. Those are things that I hate," one parent said.
Right now, Dearborn public school policy states that a parent has the right to restrict their child's access to certain books, but they have to ask.
“What happens when the parents who don’t read or speak English. Why is it up to them to opt out they do not know what’s going on,” a parent said.
Parents who insist the books be permanently banned presented a resolution to the board. They're also demanding an open-door policy and a more transparent and interactive book analysis before students can check them out.
“I believe there should be a process to review these books before they even get in our schools. Not a review process once they are already in our schools,” one parent said.
The board did not vote on anything pertaining to the books during Thursday night's meeting. It was more about letting parents get out their grievances.
