Gays Against Groomers is pushing back against allegations that those opposed to providing vividly animated pornographic books in children’s libraries is anti-LGBTQ.
In fact, the group said that LGBTQ is being used to support pornographic materials. The group called out former president Barack Obama for his support of such materials in schools.
“Shocking to learn that you support pornography in schools,” Gays Against Groomers said on Twitter. “Those books are not ‘LGBTQ+.’ They are pornographic filth being pushed on children using our community as a shield and scapegoat to do so. Shameful that you have come out in support of them, but we are not surprised.”
The comment from Gays Against Groomers came after Obama tweeted a note to librarians.
“Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. And librarians are on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone,” Obama tweeted.
Obama noted “the dedicated and hardworking librarians of America” in the letter.
“Today, some of the books that shaped my life - and the lives of so many others - are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. It's no coincidence that these ‘banned books’ are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community - though there have also been unfortunate instances in which books by conservative authors or books containing 'triggering' words or scenes have been targets for removal," Obama wrote. "Either way, the impulse seems to be to silence, rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don't fit our own.”
He also believes “such an approach is profoundly misguided, and contrary to what has made this country great."
"As I've said before, not only is it important for young people from all walks of life to see themselves represented in the pages of books, but it's also important for all of us to engage with different ideas and points of view,” Obama added. “It’s also important to understand that the world is watching. If America - a nation built on freedom of expression - allows certain voices and ideas to be silenced, why should other countries go out of their way to protect them? Ironically, it is Christian and other religious texts - the sacred texts that some calling for book bannings in this country claim to want to defend - that have often been the first target of censorship and book banning efforts in authoritarian countries.”
In some areas of Illinois school boards have taken decisive action in removing animated porn from school libraries, Rockford Sun reported. Machesney Park-based Harlem School District 122 Board of Education removed the infamous book Gender Queer was removed from libraries in mid-2022. That book along with many others was found to be objectionable by parents in that district which took quick action.
"It’s porn," Lynette Hofman said at the time, according to WIFR. "We're talking incest, molestation and pedophilia."
Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the state's Democrats have prevented such books from being removed from libraries. According to Prairie State Wire, Many have criticized Illinois' ban on book bans, arguing that it is a hypocritical gesture by progressive politicians who claim to champion free speech but advocate for speech regulations in other contexts.
Mark Glennon, Executive Editor of Wirepoints, pointed out the irony of progressive groups seeking to ban certain books while promoting themselves as defenders of free speech, highlighting issues of vagueness, delegation of lawmaking, and conflation of age appropriateness with censorship in the law.
“At the other extreme, the left has sought to ban ”Huck Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” foolishly claiming they are racist, but they’d presumably say their reasons are not partisan or doctrinal so their ban should be permitted,” Glennon wrote on Wirepoints. “What about explicit pornography, calls for immediate violence, brazen defamation, and how-to-make-a-bomb books? Most everybody would agree that those should be banned, but the association’s bill of rights does not address such things, and defining them would be nearly impossible.”
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