Virginia local school board reverses ban of 'sexually explicit' books after public outcry

A week after voting 6-0 to remove all "sexually explicit" books from school libraries, Virginia's Spotsylvania County School Board voted 5-2 on Tuesday to rescind that decision. The two board members who voted to keep last week's ban on sexually explicit books, Kirk Twigg and Rabih Abuismail, raised eyebrows and hackles by suggesting the board burn those books. (They now say they were not serious about burning books, The Washington Post reports.)

The short-lived ban was prompted by a mother and father who complained at a Nov. 8 meeting about two books — Call Me By Your Name, about a gay relationship, and 33 Snowfish, an American Library Association 2004 Best Book for Young Adults. The mother said a search of the school system's online library catalog turned up 172 hits for "gay" and 84 for "lesbian."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.