The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance has raised thousands of dollars so they can gift copies of “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, to students after it was banned in their school.

The non-profit group is dedicated to serving and supporting writers and book publishers in Maine. Its self-described mission is “to sharpen craft, create community, and celebrate great writing.” The leftist group has launched a fundraiser to purchase the book which was banned by the Regional School Unit 56 school board by a 7-2 vote.

The Dirigo High School library in Dixfield, Maine, has banned the “illustrated memoir” and it is no longer available to students, according to Maine Public 60 News.

The book has been excoriated since its publication in 2019. It purports to illustrate the author’s foray into gender fluidity and it does so in very graphic detail. Despite what many parents consider to be pornography contained within the book, a five-member panel voted unanimously in May to keep the book on the library’s shelf.

It’s so sick that the left is saying the right is book banning. Don’t let them twist and manipulate this. They are perverts that want kids introduced to this stuff.

— Waldenmom (@Waldenmom1) August 23, 2022

That panel had four administrators sitting on it: DHS assistant principal/athletic director Nick Karavas, RSU 56 library media specialist Cindy Petherbridge, DHS social worker Ami-Jo Greco, and DHS social studies teacher Kurt Rowley. One community member named Melanie Prescott was also on the panel. They collectively decided that the book was “a well-researched and accurate resource that has value to a subset of the population at DHS,” according to the Sun Journal.

A monthly periodical intended for school personnel call School Library Journal also came to the conclusion that “Gender Queer” “is appropriate for students in ninth grade and up, making its inclusion in a high school setting unremarkable.”

Parents were incensed over the book. Three mothers circulated a petition to ban it. Elizabeth Kelly, one of the petitioners, called portions of the book “soft porn.”

“I have it in my possession, and I’ve read it,” she claimed. “It seems to be the diary of a young woman or person who has questioned her gender identity. The book for the most part might be OK, but I found 11 pages that I thought was soft porn.”

If you haven’t read “Gender Queer” & “Lawnboy”, you don’t understand why parents are so mad that they are read to pre-school thru 4th grade by nutty Democrat union teachers. Read them. Know what we’re talking about. These are the mildest.

— patSpeed (@patSpeed8) August 23, 2022

The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance supports the book’s content and calls any attempt at banning it in a school, censorship.

“This is really in our wheelhouse,” the group’s associate director, Taryn Bowe, proclaimed according to Boston Spirit Magazine. “It’s about books. It’s about expression. It’s about wanting to make sure that people value the diversity of stories that are out there, and they continue to be available.”

Sun Journal letter to the editor from the chair of the Maine Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee regarding the removal of "Gender Queer" from Dirigo High School pic.twitter.com/BnzGQdEdl9

— Vanessa Paolella (@vapaolella) August 16, 2022

The alliance has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to provide high school students with the book, free of charge. As of Monday night, the page had raised almost $4,500 which will buy approximately 200 copies of the book.

According to the American Library Association, “Gender Queer” was the most controversial graphic novel last year. Boards in Illinois, North Carolina, and Florida have considered banning the book from school libraries.

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Staff Writer at BizPac Review

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a Constitutional Conservative who researches and writes extensively on politics and current events.

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