Virginia public schools quietly remove a perverse LGBTQ book from their libraries to avoid scrutiny

11/08/2024 / By Laura Harris

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia quietly removed an LGBTQ book from school libraries recently following months of criticism from some parents regarding its sexually explicit content.

In 2023, Stacy Langton, a mother of two high school students at FCPS, saw “Queer: A Graphic History” by Meg-John Barker displayed in a library section encouraging students to try and read an LGBT-themed book at Fairfax High School. Since then, Langton has repeatedly raised concerns over the graphic content of the book. The mother argued that the book contains illustrations of explicit sexual acts inappropriate for school-aged readers.

Langton also recorded a video of herself discussing the explicit content of the book and submitted it to the Fairfax County School Board. But the school district refused to present her video in the school board meeting on Oct. 24. (Related: Tennessee city to BAN all LGBT books from county libraries.)

School Board Clerk Christina Setlow sent Langton an email, saying that her remarks about the book were “indecent and profane.” Setlow also confirmed the removal of the book and noted it was “not a part of the FCPS curriculum at any grade level and is not maintained in any FCPS library.”

“Please be advised that the video you have submitted will not be broadcast during the School Board meeting this evening because it contains indecent and profane content,” Setlow wrote in the email sent to Langton on Oct. 24. “That content relates to a graphic description of sexual activity you assert is depicted in a book (Queer: A Graphic History). That book is not part of the FCPS curriculum at any grade level and is not maintained in any FCPS library. This contrasts with your previous Board comments over the years, in which you have spoken about books maintained in FCPS libraries.”

When the video was declined, Langton addressed the board in person. The board told her that the book had been removed from school libraries.

“I’m surprised they did this quietly, without notifying me, the public or the LGBTQ community,” Langton said. She suggested that FCPS tried to avoid public scrutiny by using a less formal “weeding” process to remove the book, sidestepping the transparency associated with the standard challenge procedure.

FCPS official confirms removal of LGBT book

Noel Klimenko, an assistant superintendent of the school district’s Instructional Services Department, later confirmed the removal of “Queer: A Graphic History” either at the end of the 2022-2023 school year or early in the 2023-2024 school year in a separate email to Langton.

“As I shared previously, there was no formal challenge filed for this book and therefore no division process was employed. The weeding process is done at the school level, so there is not a date I can centrally name. The process can take place at any time, but primary happens at the end of each school year as books are being returned and librarians are reviewing their collections to make new purchases,” Klimenko wrote.

“Since you saw the book at Fairfax HS in May of 2023, I would assume it was part of the 2023 or 2024 spring weeding process. We do not require librarians to document specifics about weeding decisions, so I do not have the information about the terminology.”

In another email, Klimenko explained that librarians opted to “weed out” the book due to “outdated terminology that is no longer used in the LGBTQ+ community.”

“They determined that there are other books in their collections that provide accurate, up-to-date information on LGBTQ+ history that were superior sources of information on this topic,” Klimenko wrote.

But Langton believes there’s another reason. “I assume it’s because it has become such a politically charged issue, that they did not want to hand me what looks like a victory,” she said.

Watch this clip of Muslim families in Maryland’s Montgomery County protesting against LGBT books used in the MCPS.

This video is from the Puretrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.