Loudoun Schools Pull 'Gender Queer' From High School Libraries

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Loudoun County Public Schools decided last week to remove the book “Gender Queer: A Memoir” from its high school library shelves. The book has come under attack across the country as parents and groups amplify calls to remove “offensive” materials from libraries.

LCPS Superintendent Scott Ziegler asked for a review of the book because of questions about its content, a school spokesman told the Washington Post on Friday.

In a split vote, a committee recommended keeping the book in the high school library collection. Despite the recommendation in favor of "Gender Queer," Ziegler decided to remove the book from circulation, the spokesman told the Post.

“Gender Queer,” written by Maia Kobabe, was one of the most challenged books in 2021. The book is a graphic memoir about a young person’s struggle with gender identity. Published in 2019, the graphic memoir won the Stonewall Book Award and was nominated for an Ignatz Award and the Best Graphic Novels for Teens list from the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Ziegler’s decision to remove the book was appealed. But the Loudoun County School Board’s appeals committee voted unanimously last Thursday to uphold the superintendent’s decision to ban the book from county schools, the Post reported.

"First, I read every book that is submitted for my review in its entirety," Ziegler said in a statement emailed to Patch. "I am not generally in favor of removing books from the library. I believe our students need to see themselves reflected in the literature available to them. The pictorial depictions in this book ran counter to what is appropriate in school."

Loudoun County Public Schools' decision to remove "Gender Queer" from its high school libraries came on the eve of the inauguration of Glenn Youngkin as the 74th governor of Virginia. During his campaign for governor, Youngkin had joined conservative parents in Loudoun County who had protested the school system's LGBTQ policies and the use of critical race theory in school curriculums.

Critical race theory and its concepts, however, are not taught in the LCPS system. It is an academic framework, usually taught in universities, which is based on the idea that racism is embedded in American institutions, creating persistent systemic inequalities for people of color. The term has become a general term used by conservative parents and groups to describe racial equity and diversity initiatives in public schools.

On his first day as governor, Youngkin issued a highly unusual executive order targeting Loudoun County and its school system about how it handled the actions of a student accused of committing sexual assault at Broad Run High School and Stone Bridge High School. The 15-year-old boy was sentenced last week to a "locked residential program" and to supervised probation until he turns 18. He will also be required to enter Virginia's sex offender registry.

"Neither the Loudoun County School Board, nor the administrators of the Loudoun County school system, have been held accountable for deceiving the very Virginians they serve. Virginia parents deserve answers and assurances that the safety of their children will never be compromised," Youngkin wrote in his executive order.

In neighboring Fairfax County, "Gender Queer" and "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison were removed from libraries in high schools as a result of public comments during a Fairfax County School Board meeting in September. Both of the targeted books were then submitted to a book challenge under the county school system's process for challenging school materials.

In November, Fairfax County Public Schools announced that it would reinstate both "Gender Queer" and "Lawn Boy." After completing a two-month review process, the school district determined the challenges were "found to be without merit" and the two books could return to the shelves of its high school libraries.

Two committees formed by FCPS to review "Gender Queer" and "Lawn Boy" found that neither book includes pedophilia nor material that qualifies as obscene, under the definition in Virginia law, the school system said.

RELATED: Banning Books In Schools Becomes Rallying Cry For VA Republicans