The following is a transcript of Todd’s commentary – heard on hundreds of radio stations around the nation.
Hello Americans, I’m Todd Starnes. Stand by for news and commentary next.
There is a battle brewing in Texas over public school libraries.
In recent weeks moms and dads at Timbercreek High School have been wandering around stacks of books – discovering what they say is inappropriate material. Some of it downright pornographic.
One book in particular is called “Gender Queer.”
“It’s because they’re explicit, they’re pornographic,” parent Joni Smith told NBC News. “It just so happens that Gender Queer is about gender identity it could have been about green aliens it was still pornographic. While, it’s unfortunate many of the titles are LGBTQ and race-related, we are in no way targeting those only. We are trying to eliminate sexually explicit and pornographic books.”
The book contained images that were so graphic the local NBC television station had to blur the photos.
If a book like that is too racy for a local television station — why would librarians think it was appropriate for kids?
Turns out Gender Queer is in public school libraries across the nation – big cities and small. You might want to pay a visit to your local school library — just to be safe.
Critics say it’s about banning books, but I sincerely disagree. This is about age-appropriate material. And underage kids have no business being exposed to graphic sexual activity – gay or straight.
I’m Todd Starnes