By Allison Lemaster | UConn Journalism
November 30, 2023
BROOKFIELD — As Jermey Farrell nervously stood before the Brookfield Board Education on July 19, 2023, a board that oversees his old high school, he knew the fight to keep “This Book Is Gay” accessible to students was much more than a debate within his hometown. It was a fight to stop LGBTQ+ censorship.
When the Board of Education voted 5–2 to maintain the high school’s access, Farrell only let out a small sigh of relief. “This is the biggest book challenge we’ve seen, and we know it isn’t over,” said Farrell.
Farrell is just one of many activists across the state fighting against book bans. According to a WSHU Public Radio article, “CT had over 100 book challenges this year,” by Madi Steddick published on Dec. 7, 2023, many municipalities in Connecticut face the same debate about book challenges and censorship— a debate at the center of many Boards of Education.
Bob Belden, the former chairman of the Brookfield Board of Education, faced the brunt of this in July. In December of 2022, Brookfield high school students were given electronic access to the Connecticut State Library, where controversial titles such as “This Book Is Gay,” were made available. Belden said the first book challenge happened only a couple of months later. During the book review process— a policy put in place whenever a parent challenges a book— librarians, principals, school psychologists, the superintendent, and the entire Board of Education read “This Book Is Gay” to deem its appropriateness for students. Belden said this was the time he received an onslaught of hate.
“I was labeled a pedophile over social media,” said Belden. Belden describes getting “3–10 emails a day” urging him to limit access to multiple titles. Facebook groups targeting Brookfield parents were created, telling them to join an excel spreadsheet to “audit” books in the CT State Library with LGBTQ+ themes.
“Most of the noise we get is from people outside of Brookfield,” said Belden. Belden’s loudest critic was an 83-year-old man from Southbury, with no children or grandchildren inside the school district.
Despite the rallying cries, Belden pushed for students’ access to “This Book is Gay.”
“When it comes back down to rights, I know there are children discovering their sexuality,” said Belden, “It would be a shame for them to lose access.”
According to the American Library Association’s “Top 13 Most Challenged Books,” published in 2022, “This Book Is Gay” ranks number 10. “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson is a young adult, non-fiction book aimed to teach people about LGBTQ+ identities. It touches upon issues from LGBTQ+ stereotypes to queer sex education.
Since its 2014 publication, the book has been surrounded in controversy. This controversy was at the heart of the recent Brookfield Board of Education election.
“[This Book Is Gay] targets little boys and puts them in dangerous spots,” said Austin Monteiro, a candidate who ran for the Brookfield Board of Education in November. Monteiro spoke during the Board of Education meeting in favor of banning “This Book Is Gay,” where his anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric stirred up a local following. “I’m running for this seat because parents deserve to feel heard,” said Monteiro, “We are falling into a moral degradation trap.”
Monteiro, who says he has read the book seven different times, claims it “encourages underage boys to go on Grindr and meet up with old men.”
Nowhere in “This Book Is Gay” are sexual relations between children and adults promoted.
Monteiro noted on several occasions that everyone should read diverse books, but referred to “This Book Is Gay” as “illegal” and “obscene.” On Nov. 7, Monteiro lost the Board of Education election, finishing 5th out of 6, according to the Hartford Courant’s “Connecticut 2023 Municipal Election Results,” published the same day. Monteiro lost a seat by less than 300 votes.
“Monteiro got creamed in the Board of Education election,” said Aaron Zimmer, the Democratic Town Chair of Brookfield. “We knew we needed to run candidates that would take a stand [against book bans],” said Zimmer, “but that was not hard to find.” Zimmer noted the “absurdity,” of targeting an E‑book that he claims was only checked out twice by students.
“[Monteiro] is practicing national politics, but at a local level,” said Zimmer, “It is about mobilizing locals to attack the Board of Education.”
This sentiment was amplified by Belden and Farrell: the effort to ban books was not coming from inside Connecticut. According to Belden, during a meeting with BOE chairs facing book bans in their district, most believed it was “a coordinated national effort to go after the LGBTQ+ movement.”
Moms for Liberty, heralded as an “anti-LGBTQ+ hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, opened a Fairfield County Chapter in 2022, according to its Facebook page, the same county where Newtown, Westport, and Brookfield had attempted book bans the following year. While no one can pinpoint Moms for Liberty or any other conservative group for the increase in book bans, the organization’s rhetoric seeps into local debates. On the group’s website, “Library 101,” published in 2022, Moms for Liberty targets “This Book Is Gay,” and other LGBTQ+ titles, labeling the book “obscenity,” and saying it “teaches” children to be sexually active.
While those in favor of banning books want to shield students from this content, many free speech activists view it as censorship.
“Not everything is obscene because they claim it is obscene,” said Sapana Anand, a legal fellow at ACLU Connecticut. Anand stated banning controversial books for “obscenity” has a “narrow legal precedent” that does not include titles like “The Book Is Gay.”
She argues those advocating for book bans are prohibiting students’ first amendment right to read from diverse perspectives. “Students should be free from viewpoint-based censorship,” said Anand.
While no book has been removed from a Connecticut school library in the past two years, according to Anand, the ACLU keeps “a close eye” on book challenges. She says the attempts have strengthened both in Connecticut and across the country.
Recently, school districts that enacted book bans are facing high-profile lawsuits. On May 17, 2023, PEN America, a nonprofit literary organization, published a press release titled “PEN AMERICA FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER UNCONSTITUTIONAL BOOK BANS.” PEN America cites first amendment protections against Escambia County, Florida after officials removed 10 books and limited access to 150. In the release, Suzanne Nossel, the CEO of PEN America is quoted as saying, “Children in a democracy must not be taught that books are dangerous.”
“Why are books so dangerous?” asked Sean Forbes, an Associate Professor of creative writing at the University of Connecticut, “Let’s say a 10-year-old picks up a book that changes their life. Isn’t that what literature is supposed to do?”
Forbes, who taught a Young Adult Literature class at UConn, would host a discussion about book bans the first week of class. “A lot of students are aware of what their school board is saying,” said Forbes, “but adults don’t listen to the students.”
Forbes noted the importance of having LGBTQ+ stories in libraries in high schools. “From 12–18 is the age of awakening for young adults,” said Forbes. “We need this discourse.”
Farrell, a social justice activist from Brookfield, had other concerns. “The way these book bans have been done targets the LGBTQ+ community,” said Farrell, “This means something to students. How they interpret the rhetoric of these challenges is what I’m scared of.”
Farrell, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, said it was the anti-LGBTQ+ culture that kept him from engaging with queer material while in high school— something he worries about for Brookfield students. “Queer people are told to speak up, and then book bans are telling us we didn’t do it right,” said Farrell.
“Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic,” by Alison Bechdel, another LGBTQ+ book, is the subject of a challenge in Brookfield. The meeting will be held after the student’s winter break. On November 15, 2023, the Brookfield Board of Education edited their book selection policy to “encourage” teachers to read the material going into the school library, after parents petitioned to change the media vetting process and reexamine every book.
The new trend of targeting book selection policies has Sam Lee, the co-chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee at the CT Librarians Association, “deeply concerned.” “Every corner of the state has faced a book or policy challenge” said Lee, “These challenges give librarians less time to connect with their students.”
Brookfield High School Library, Brookfield Public Library, and the town’s Library Board of Trustees did not respond to requests for interviews. While Lee could not speak on Brookfield, she noted some librarians have been scared to talk to the media after an increase in online attacks. Lee described creating a “safety plan” for librarians in 2020.
“We now have to support our colleagues’ personal safety. Librarians have been threatened online, doxed, and had their vehicles posted on social media,” said Lee.
“The Brookfield Board of Education supports our librarians,” said Belden. While Belden denies that challenges have taken up too much time for the Board of Education, he said only two parents have opted-out of letting their children read “This Book Is Gay.” This is the same opt-out policy put in place before the high school had access to CT State Library, and what Monteiro believed to be the compromise he “fought” for in July.
“It’s all about making noise,” said Belden.