After a police officer followed up on a complaint by searching a middle school in Great Barrington, Massachusetts for a copy of “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” the town’s police chief posted a message to the community on Facebook, “apologizing ‘to anyone who was negatively [affected] by our involvement at the WEB Dubois Middle School,” according to NBC News.
“Over the years, our relationship with our schools has been positive and collaborative, so together we worked with the school to try to navigate this sensitive situation,” posted Police Chief Paul Storti. “If our involvement caused distrust and alarm, that was not our intention. I promise you our actions were not meant to disenfranchise anyone or influence school curriculum.”
Reports NBC Boston TV-10:
The incident occurred on Dec. 8 at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School. A plainclothes officer with the Great Barrington Police Department visited this school to look for the book after the department received a complaint about “concerning illustrations,” Boston.com reported.
The complainant allegedly provided police with an image that showed illustrated characters performing sexual acts, according to the news outlet.
The police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Police Chief Paul Storti told Boston.com that because the complaint was made to the department, they were “obligated and have a duty to examine the complaint further.”
Read the full story here on NBCNews.com.
Notes Boston.com:
In “Gender Queer,” author Maia Kobabe — who uses “e/em/eir” pronouns — explores the adolescent journey of navigating gender and sexual identity.
As distributor Simon & Schuster explains: “Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.”
While the 2019 memoir has drawn awards and recognition, it’s also emerged as a flashpoint for book banning efforts across the U.S., which often target works by or about LGBTQ+ and Black people. In 2021 and 2022, “Gender Queer” was the most frequently challenged book in the country, the Associated Press reported, citing the American Library Association.
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