Battle over banning LBGTQ book in Newtown to get vote Tuesday

The battle in Newtown over whether to ban two coming-of-age graphic novels, one of them LGBTQ-themed, from the high school library is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Newtown High School Cafetorium. The meeting was moved from the usual board of education meeting room due to an expected overflow crowd.

At the board’s May 2 meeting, Assistant Superintendent Anne Uberti spoke on behalf of a five-member Special Review Committee, which unanimously recommended that the school board let “Flamer” by Mike Curato and “Blankets” by Craig Thompson stay on the library shelves.

“‘Flamer’ promotes empathy, acceptance, understanding and resiliency and should remain in circulation,” Uberti concluded in her summary of the committee findings.

She added, “Despite language and images that some may find offensive, taken in whole, ‘Blankets’ is an artistic work.”

Superintendent Christopher Melillo supported the committee in the recommendation to reject the suggested ban.

“Blankets” is an autobiography. “Flamer” is semi-autobiographical. “Flamer” is a story about a bullied Filipino teen who realizes he is gay. “Blankets” is a story about an abused young man raised in an evangelical Christian family who experiences first love.

The Newtown Democratic Town Committee will hold a rally at the high school starting at 5:30 p.m. to oppose the books’ proposed banning, the committee announced on Facebook.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz sent the Newtown Democratic Town Committee a video, which they also posted on Facebook.

“Book banning is dangerous and anti-democratic. Books are a critical part of the way we learn about ourselves and the world around us at any age,” Bysiewicz said in the video. “And as we shape that view, we understand the need for representation.”

Bysiewicz said that 41% of books targeted for bans are LGBTQ-oriented, and 40% had a protagonist of color.

“Our students deserve to find themselves in the books on the shelves in their library. … This cannot be who we are. Book banning has no place in Connecticut,” she concluded.

Complaints

The Special Review Committee was formed after a citizen complained about “Flamer” in late March. That complaint led to the removal of that book from the middle school library, but not the high school library. The middle school removal, Uberti said, was based on the listed reading age of “Flamer” as 14 to 18 years.

On March 28, nine complaints were logged against “Flamer,” and two days later one against “Blankets,” according to Uberti.

“All objectors (to ‘Flamer’) believe the theme of the book is pornography and sexually explicit,” Uberti said in a summary of the committee’s report.

Uberti said, however, that most of the “Flamer” complaints used identical wording. “This raised concerns that some of the objectors may not have read the entire book although they indicated on the form that they had,” she said.

Uberti added that the one objector to “Blankets” complained that it was sexually graphic, but admitted they did not read the entire book.

“The removal of books from the library is a serious matter and they should not be removed based on selected words, phrases and illustrations that are taken out of context,” Uberti said. “Since this objector has not read the entire work, then it is not possible for them to have considered the value of the work in its entirety.”

Uberti said “Flamer” has been in the Newtown High library since last year, as part of an initiative to add diverse voices to the book selections. It has never been checked out. “Blankets” has been the library since 2013, she said, and has been checked out once.

Public comment

Uberti gave her report after the public comment segment of the meeting. More than two dozen town residents spoke, most of them against the book ban.

The May 2 meeting minutes list those comments as pertaining to “book challenges.” At its April 18 meeting, the board voted unanimously to retroactively edit out the phrase “banning books” on meeting minutes, replacing it with “book challenges.”

The most impassioned voices came from educators.

Newtown High School English teacher Kristin English said the objection to “Flamer” “goes beyond (objectors’) willful misunderstanding of pornography and is instead meant to marginalize and isolate LGBTQ people.”

Library media specialists say they have been harassed online by proponents of the bans.

Suzanne Hurley referred to “keyboard warriors accusing me and my colleagues of negligence and incompetence regarding book selection.” Sarah Wasley referred to “disdainful, degrading, dishonest and disrespectful behavior by some towards me and my colleagues.”

Hurley defended the two books. “We should be preparing our students to face a world full of people who may not look or act like them or believe what they believe,” she said.

Hurley objected to the board’s “book challenges” phrasing. “Let’s call a spade a spade. It’s banning,” she said.

Library media clerk Sarah Beyers said the upcoming vote “is of historic consequence in the town.

“The impact of your decision will be felt for years,” Beyers said.

Michelle Buzzi, one of the speakers protesting the books, said she believes they are appropriate for adults only. “I read both books. I believe there is content in both books that is not appropriate for minors and most of the students in Newtown High School are legally minors,” Buzzi said.

Newtown High School senior Joseph Crosby said he believes those who support the ban aren’t really upset about the books’ content.

“They are upset that gay characters are finally making their way onto the shelves,” Crosby said. “These attacks are homophobic in nature and do not fit with the saying ‘Nicer in Newtown’.”

Uberti pointed out that “Flamer” was nominated for a Nutmeg Book Award in 2022. That award is jointly sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut Association of School Librarians.

She added that 19 high schools near Newtown also have “Flamer” on their library shelves.

Uberti said she has received complaints about other books, but she did not name the books.

Curato was the subject of a “Banned in the USA Spotlight” on the website of PEN America, a nonprofit focusing on literary freedoms. ” ‘Flamer’ was tied with Maia Kobabe’s ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir’ as the most banned book in the fall of 2022 in PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans,” the article stated.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.