Public Library Moves Sexually Explicit Book To Adult Section After Community Backlash
Reagan Reese on July 17, 2023
A New Jersey public library moved a pornographic book out of its young adult section following community backlash, according to Northjersey.com.
Cedar Grove Public Library displayed “Gender Queer,” a book that contains cartoon images of masturbation and oral sex, as a part of its Pride display in June where it was available to children, according to Northjersey.com. Following community pushback to the display, the library took the book off the Pride exhibit and moved it from the young adult section to the adult section.
“It happened to be the summer reading kickoff, so there were tons of kids and parents,” Cedar Grove Mayor Kerry Peterson told the outlet.”[The book] was accessible to little kids. It was displayed for gay Pride month. I don’t think it was displayed to incite a reaction or cause harm.”
Young people can still access the book despite it being in the adult section of the library, Northjersey.com reported. Library leaders never discussed removing the book from the library entirely, Peterson told the outlet.
“Cedar Grove’s decision is basically saying queer content deserves a higher-level age restriction than heterosexual content,” Peter Yacobellis, executive director of Out Montclair, a group focused on raising awareness of the LGBTQ community within New Jersey, told Northjersey.com. “It’s the very thing that stings, that makes my community feel shame, makes my community feel like there’s something wrong with us. It all starts with how the community, how our government, how our families, how our institutions treat us.”
Throughout the country, public and school libraries have come under fire as educators, lawmakers and parents debate what content should be made available to children; in Texas, county commissioners voted to restrict children’s access to sexually explicit content within several local libraries after community pushback. A Virginia town board decided to partially limit funding to a public library after parents protested sexually explicit content being made available to students.
Cedar Grove Public Library did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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