A board meeting of Michigan’s Dearborn Public Schools came to a halt Monday night as community members protested the availability of sexually explicit books to children.
“Keep your porno books to yourself,” a sign from a protester read as demonstrators piled into the meeting to raise concern about the books.
The meeting had a heavy police presence and a majority of attendees came out against the books, many of which include explicit content such as describing and portraying sexual acts between and among children.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) also had a small presence, according to the Detroit Free Press, in support of the books.
Police and school board members attempted to get control of the chaotic crowd, with Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin saying: “We can have a spirited debate, but we can’t conduct ourselves this way, guys, we just can’t. We’re better than this. Dearborn is better than this. This community is better than this. We’re brothers and sisters regardless of race, ethnicity, religion.”
Much of the crowd continued to chant, “Vote them out!”
Dearborn schools has already removed seven books from its catalog.
One book available to students was Flamer by Mike Curato, which is a graphic novel depicting and explicitly describing sexual acts between young boys.
Another book, This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson, promotes extreme promiscuity and casual hookup culture, while speaking directly about sodomy and “massaging” the prostate.
“We all want to have sex with loads of people,” Dawson writes. “[T]he prostate gland … feels amazing when massaged. Lots of men, gay or straight, like how this feels.” The book also states:
Let’s talk about dildos: I think a lot of people assume that where there is no penis, a desperate sexual void is created, out of which something [expletive] shaped must ultimately slot in order to satisfy. I’ve only ever slept with two women who enjoyed using dildos. I hate wearing a strap-on. I’ve only ever done it once and NEVER AGAIN!
Dearborn, an area that is about 47 percent Arab American (most of whom are Muslim), had Muslim leaders urging community members fo attend the meetings in order to protest the books, according to the Free Press.
Michigan Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini of the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights was one of the leaders telling the community to protest against the graphic books.
“Some of those books are completely inappropriate for our children to read,” he said. “Some of those books promote pornography. Some of them promote homosexuality. We don’t need this. Go and attend this meeting.”
Al-Qazwini argues that he and others have the democratic right to decide the content that shows up in schools as their “faith is now in the majority,” according to the Free Press. He went on to say:
We don’t need those books in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. Take them somewhere else. The majority rules. If you are the majority of people in Dearborn, you decide for your children. We live in a democratic society. And there are certain tools and techniques with which you can change the law in this country.
Another attendee, Wadeea Yassir Alzabah, said that the left only supports democracy as long as it goes in their ideological direction.
“They are proponents of democracy, but only if it supports liberal values,” he said. “The moment it goes against liberal values, they are authoritarian and they want to impose their own values on people.”
AFT counter protesters also spoke up in support of the sexually explicit books — but did not appear to address the primary issue that these books are, in fact, extremely sexually explicit. AFT member said:
Everyone believes that our schools and classrooms should be safe, welcoming, and supportive environments that are free from discrimination and bullying of any kind. That includes young people who identity as LGBTQ. Having resources and books in our classrooms and libraries that speak to the diversity of our students and the broader world we share is critical to providing a quality and supportive education.
The board meeting has been postponed until Thursday evening at a larger venue.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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