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credit: cowboystatedaily

On 10-09-22, I posted Wyoming School Porn: They’d Rather Not.  It’s the story of the Natrona County School Board’s—Casper, WY–potential attempt to be as woke as possible by keeping two oh-so-woke books in the Kelly Walsh High School’s library.  Here’s a graphic from one of the books:

The theme of that article was anything not fit for the classroom is equally unfit for a school library.  For sane, normal people—that’s most of Wyoming—that would include depictions of sex of any kind, and would also include political and sexual indoctrination, the latter commonly, and accurately, known as “grooming,” which is why the Democrat/Socialist/Communist Party hates the term—it’s definition of character.

The battle is far from over, as Clair McFarland at Cowboy State Daily, reports:

Explicit content: The following story and photos depict mature subject matter. Cowboy State Daily gently blurred nude images, but in the original books, both available at Kelly Walsh High School, the nude images are generally uncensored. Read at your own discretion.

Hmmm.  If Cowboy State Daily, a freely available, daily Internet publication feels it necessary to print that disclaimer, what does that say about the appropriateness of such materials in a school library?

A contentious crowd at the Natrona County School Board meeting Monday traded barbs, with one community member calling a substitute teacher a ‘pedophile’ and others calling concerned parents book-banners.

The controversy stems from a district-appointed reconsideration of the board’s decision last month to keep the books ‘Gender Queer’ and ‘Trans Bodies, Trans Selves’ in the Kelly Walsh High School library in Casper. Cowboy State Daily reviewed and roughly summarized both books Sept. 29.

Stephen Delger, a substitute teacher for the school district and a self-described conservative, addressed the board, saying he read ‘Gender Queer’ and didn’t know why people are calling it pornographic.

‘I’ve seen pornography, I’m ashamed to say, when I was a young man. I know what it is and this isn’t it,’ he said, adding that those attempting to remove the books are ‘marginaliz(ing) students that are questioning.’

Delger warned against ‘banning books,’ asking ‘where does that stop?’

credit: cowboystatedaily

One might reasonably question Delger’s self-identification, and as I noted in the first article, porn is a bit hard to describe.  That said, graphic descriptions of gay and/or trans sex, and encouraging kids to taste their own, and others, vaginal fluids, might reasonably be considered, if not precisely porn, not something appropriate for school classrooms or libraries.

Let’s also be clear about “banning books.”  Removing explicit, sexual material from a school library, or simply not buying it in the first place, does not run afoul of the First Amendment.  Such books, and similar depictions, are widely available at the click of a mouse.  As always, the antidote for bad speech is good speech, never censorship.  However, it is well-settled law it is inappropriate, and in some cases illegal, to expose a captive student audience to sexual content and/or political indoctrination.  No one, outside of school, is in the least restrained from reading and viewing whatever they please.

Eric Paulson, who is running for Casper City Council, spoke up after Delger and accused him of pedophilia.

‘That’s who is advocating for (keeping the books),’ said Paulson. ‘People who think 13, and 12 and other minor children are ‘discovering themselves.’ You literally just had a pedophile come and talk to you who told us he’s a substitute teacher.’

Interesting, if emotionally stated, point.  One wonders to what, if any, degree Delger keeps his views to himself, or imposes them on children?  Does he recognize any boundaries in his interactions in the classroom, or does he actively help kids in “discovering themselves?”  Children wanting to “discover themselves” may do so outside of school, hopefully with the knowledge and guidance of their parents, unless of course we want to argue that’s the primary reason for the existence of schools—to cater to the sexual urges and curiosities of children?  And what if “discovering themselves” involves depictions of child porn, as both books arguably do?  That’s both a state and federal crime, which would tend to render making it available in any way in school also a crime.  Pedophiles do poorly in prison.  Even convicted felons have more concern for children, it seems, than many “educated” adults.

Delger responded, challenging Paulson.

‘He openly told you he wants young children discovering who they are right now,’ Paulson said.

The board called for its attending police officer to intervene and for Paulson’s microphone to be removed.

As he lost his microphone, Paulson directed a parting shot at Delger: ‘OK, groomer.’

It’s the job of the police to remove people for using words like “pedophile” or “groomer?”  Would The Natrona County School Board do the same to someone throwing “transphobe,” or “fill-in-the-blank denier?”  As you read on gentle readers, consider where, in polite company, reading or saying what follows aloud would be appropriate:

Kara Hopkins, a 19-year-old Casper resident, held up a copy of ‘Trans Bodies, Trans Selves,’ and read from it.

‘Hopefully (this) should be appropriate, if we have 14-year-olds reading it,’ said Hopkins.

‘There are many different ways to use our mouths to lick, suck, or penetrate someone,’ she said, reading aloud. ‘Depending on our partner’s anatomy there may be lots of parts for us to suck. Any that points away from or hangs down from the body can go into our mouths. Analingus, also known as rimming, is performing oral sex on the anus. Lots of people enjoy it. Fisting is when the whole hand is inserted into the body; it can provide a very pleasurable sense of fullness and pressure in either the anus, or a front hole.’

Hopkins continued: ‘Penetrative anal sex can be very enjoyable and comes with the added bonus that all of us have this part on our bodies. Sounding, or inserting objects into the urethra is most commonly done by those of us whose urethra opening is located on the tip of our external genitals.’

‘Many of us have had fantasies that involve power, domination, submissive or role dynamics, such as teacher/student, boss and employee. Many people think of these as just fantasies and never realize that such scenarios can be safely and responsibly acted out in real life.’

I’m far from a prude.  What consenting adults do in private is none of my business.  Yet I have little interest in hearing about or viewing the sexual exploits of friends or acquaintances, a lack of interest I suspect most Americans share.  I am also among the most ardent defenders of the First Amendment—one has to be these days—but I cannot conceive of any class, even a sex ed. class, where that would be appropriate or educationally valid.  That crosses the line between professional curriculum and sexual/political advocacy.

Erica Vander, a mother with two kids in the school district and one who is a recent graduate of it, said it’s ‘ignorant to judge the contents of these books without the whole context,’ and noted that ‘Trans Bodies, Trans Selves’ contains hundreds of pages of detailed research, including fair portrayal of the ‘legal and mental health repercussions of transgender health and relationships.’

‘If one were to Google the information, much more graphic and less accurate information would be presented,’ she said, calling the book’s pictures ‘similar to a biology sex education textbook.’

Vander theorized that the community’s outrage was not regarding the books’ sexual depictions, but was actually ‘about the LGBTQ community.’

She challenged the community to adjust to new and uncomfortable ideas as, she said, she once had to do to integrate LGBTQ acceptance into her childhood religious beliefs.

Context is always important, however, when evaluating the appropriateness of curriculum, the inclusion of even smaller portions of material outside the boundaries of law, decency, and professional, non-partisan exposition do render that material radioactive where children are concerned.  Vander has also exposed her intent by arguing the community must “adjust to new and uncomfortable ideas.”  No.  It has no such obligation.  No one, and particularly not schools, is obligated to “accept” the wishes and delusions of tiny minorities.  It is they, if we wish to have coherent, law-abiding, societies, who must adapt to society, not the other way around.  Confused children need guidance.  They do not need to be placated and praised as brilliant and moral sexual pioneers leading society to a brave new world.

Another speaker, Darcie Gudger, said the issue is not about LGBTQ representation.

‘Why the push for explicit sexual content?’ she asked. ‘If it’s truly about representation, why don’t we have stories of members of the LGBTQ community or other minority groups acting in a heroic way (instead)?’

Gudger said ‘representation’ is possible to achieve in a ‘wholesome’ way.

‘I don’t care if a kid identifies as a penguin – make it the best-educated penguin in America,’ she said.

Indeed.  With such people, the entire point of their existence is dwelling on their sexuality and forcing others to recognize, accept and praise them for their moral and intellectual superiority.  Are their individual qualities as human beings apart from their sexuality insufficient to recommend them?  The idea such people are somehow oppressed and/or harmed by the absence of a few books in a school library is more than sufficient evidence of their intentions and lack of confidence in the supposedly self-evident nature of their moral superiority.  Their example is not sufficient to attract new converts; they must have the backing, even the coercive power of the state.

As I noted in the previous article, Gender Queer is a graphic novel—a comic books of sorts, while Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is essentially a how-to resource and catalogue.  How popular are these books?

When the reconsideration committee reviewed the books in mid-August, ‘Gender Queer’ had been checked out 16 times since it was acquired in 2019. ‘Trans Bodies, Trans Selves’ had been checked out twice since it was acquired in February 2017.

Rather a dramatic increase? Is it due to greater publicity? Peer pressure? Greater efforts to recruit/groom kids? All three?

Whether either book has been checked out 16 or 1600 times is irrelevant.  The sole determinant must always be curricular appropriateness.  Not only that, every book or text that might be minimally appropriate is not automatically a good idea.  Some books and texts are simply better than others because they’re better written, more complete, and more intellectually valuable, and not pandering to the obsessive sexual interests of adolescents or those that would recruit them.  Two more comments:

Archie Pettry, represented as a “counselor,” said:

‘There have been many scary new concepts presented to children through the years that were proclaimed as moral degradations to society, including interracial marriage, women’s voting rights,’ he said. ‘Any time a group has progress in civil liberties, there are people who look at it as, ‘this must mean something’s being taken away from me.’

Pettry said as a counselor he’s seen ‘far more children harmed’ by not being exposed to sexual explainers than by being exposed to them.

Oh dear.  Discussions of interracial marriage and female sufferage can surely be done without depictions of LGBTQWERTY++– sexuality. I suspect Wyoming parents will not be anxious to employ a counselor who thinks not exposing children to “sexual explainers” is harmful.

Renea Redding, a candidate for the Natrona County School Board, said the books’ detractors aren’t trying to erase anyone’s identity or propagate a fear of alternate lifestyles.

‘Fear? Fear of what?’ she asked. ‘I wouldn’t want any kid – LGBTQ+ or heterosexual – exposed to any sexual content. So I don’t know where you’re coming from.’

Exactly.  Apparently the process by which books of any kind might be removed from school libraries in this district is a bit confusing.  As McFarland notes no one has yet filed the appropriate demand for consideration, whatever that might be.  By all means, take the link and read the entire article.  McFarland is professional and balanced.  She’s actually committing something rare: journalism.

Most Wyomingites are truly tolerant people.  They feel no need to in any way suppress or oppress people who think themselves any part of the “LGBTQWERTY++– community,” a community whose acronym changes daily.  They’re more than content to leave them alone, and prefer to mind their own business.  It’s also interesting to note that nationally, an increasing number of members of that “community” are beginning to object to the hijacking of their identities for political purposes.  They, like other Normal Americans, simply want to be left alone to live their lives.

This is not so for the more aggressive members of that “community,” who demand they not only be recognized, but praised and accommodated in every particular by all.  It is only when they also demand access, through books and otherwise, to captive schoolchild audiences, the better to recruit new converts to the joys of whatever sexual practice they exalt, that Normal Americans are forced to get involved.  There is no constitutional or moral right to sexually explicit materials of any kind in school libraries or classrooms, any more than there is a right to politically indoctrinate children in school.

Wyomingites prefer not to deal with such things.  For now, this is an intellectual exercise, a discussion of policy, but should the schools embrace this kind of wokeness, and individual parents find their children being thereby harmed, it’s going to get personal, or as is sometimes said in Wyoming, it’s going to get downright western.  The Natrona County School Board would be most unwise to go down that path.  They won’t enjoy the experience.