Stop Move to Ban Gay/Lesbian Literature in Solon, Iowa, Schools
by Sue Protheroe, Solon Middle School teacher

Meeting: 

Materials Reconsideration Committee
Tuesday, October 26, 7pm
Solon High School Media Center
Solon, Iowa

I am the 8th grade language arts teacher at Solon Middle School.  Those of you who have children in my classroom know that it is a place where students are free to develop and express personal opinions, without fear of recrimination.  My message has always been one of respect, tolerance, and acceptance.  And what better vehicle for discussion than literature?

Stories containing gay/lesbian characters are periodically part of my curriculum, and I am grateful to those of you who have read the stories yourselves and used them as vehicles for discussion at home.  When I teach these stories, I generally have a small number of parents ask that their children be excused from the pieces, and I honor these requests.  This year, however, there is a group of parents requesting that the stories be removed from the curriculum altogether, which would mean that all of my students would lose the opportunity to read and discuss them.

I object passionately to the censorship of the literature that Solon students read, especially when the censoring group identifies a specific population and asks for removal of that population from the texts used in the classroom.

One of the messages in the story "Am I Blue?" is that "there are gay cops and gay farmers, gay teachers and gay soldiers, gay parents and gay kids."  By acknowledging this fact frankly, in a controlled classroom setting, we are educating to encourage tolerance and to end discrimination against a group of our students.

If the news that this is happening alarms - or even just interests - you, I encourage you to attend the meeting of the Materials Reconsideration Committee, October 26, 7pm, in the Solon High School Media Center, Solon, Iowa.

Sue Protheroe
Solon Middle School teacher