By M.H. Cavanaugh
Christian Action League
December 16, 2021
Media sources report that Wake County Public Libraries have removed the sexually explicit book, Gender Queer, from circulation. The book, written by Maia Kobabe, was removed after a “request for reconsideration.”
According to Wake County spokesperson Alice Avery the book came under review after the request. She stated, “After the review, WCPL determined that the book does contain explicit illustrations that do not align with WCPL’s selection policy.”
The Raleigh News and Observer said seven copies of the book had been checked out as many as 61 times this year, and more than 30 people were on the waiting list to read it.
CBS 17 reports that 19 copies of the book were in circulation last year, but most copies went missing or went into WCPL’s “long overdue” status.
CBS 17 further reports that “[w]hen a ‘Request for Reconsideration’ is received, the book senior library manager reviews the book in consultation with the deputy library director and library director. The senior manager reads the book, as well as professional reviews that were written,” Avery told CBS 17. “If it is determined that a book needs to be removed, the director of Wake County’s Community Services department is also made aware.”
Last week, the Christian Action League shared with its many supporters that a group of ten Wake County parents were seeking to protect schoolchildren from such books and filed a criminal complaint against the school system for distributing pornographic and obscene materials.
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said that many people might contend that obscenity is in the eye of the beholder.
“So why don’t we ask, ‘Is cruelty in the eye of the beholder?’” said Creech. “Is dishonesty in the eye of the beholder? Are moral standards simply a subjective matter, left only to the individual to decide, so it becomes impossible to identify what is corrupt, debauched, pornographic, or obscene? That’s ridiculous!”
Creech added: “If we take this position, which many would have us do, then I suggest we undermine morality in general. There must be a standard that supersedes personal opinion. Sex is something God created. He made it to express the highest love between a man and a woman joined for life in holy matrimony. This love not only unites two people of the opposite sex, it not only makes them one in spirit and body, but it generally creates love in the birth of children. Since God made sex, aren’t we to believe he benevolently sets the rules for it?
“I don’t get to redefine love, sex, gender, or marriage. God defines these, and to redefine them, as these books seek to do, only brings confusion, sorrow, and destruction. We live in a moral universe, and if we defy God’s order, we will pay for it. His judgments won’t necessarily fall like a bolt of lightning. Instead, his judgments will simply be the logical outcome of our rebellion.
“The books Gender Queer, Lawn Body, and George are smut. They are like poison to the soul. They are a corruption of something central to our civilization. Traditionally we have understood this, but LGBTQ activists and their cohorts have not only been deceived themselves, but they are deceiving many others.”
Gender Queer was also one of three books, rightly targeted by Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who referred to them once in a speech as the dissemination of “filth.”
Robinson’s condemnation of the books, Gender Queer, Lawn-Boy, and George drew ire from the political left and mainstream media.
However, in response to CBS 17’s news story on the decision by the WCPL, Robinson qualified his objections by issuing the following statement on Wednesday night:
“The book ‘Gender Queer’ being available in an adult section of a public library is not the issue. The issue is that this book, which was marked for the adult section in the public library, and blurred out when being shown on television, is currently easily accessible to minors in our public education system. That is the problem.
“One of the main themes within my office’s report on indoctrination in North Carolina was the sexualization of our students. We are glad to see parents exposing what is going on in their children’s schools.”
The Christian Action League urges its supporters and followers to check with their local public schools to see if they are available in the school library. Moreover, they should also investigate if they are on the shelves of their local public library.
As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”