A MORAL PANIC over the presence of some children’s books on library shelves has manifested in the form of protests held by small but loud groups of demonstrators who have harassed and intimidated librarians across the country this year.
This week, the Taoiseach felt the need to write a letter to library workers nationwide, in which he expressed his “solidarity” with those who have had to deal with abuse from people ostensibly animated by a grave concern for the wellbeing of children.
“It pains me to see that ideas of censorship and the banning of books has once again entered public debate albeit from a vocal minority,” Varadkar wrote.
The protesters, who are often seen wearing green t-shirts that say “Education not Indoctrination”, claim that children are being “groomed” and “indoctrinated” with “gender ideology” and “pornography” found in sex education books available in the young adult sections of public libraries.
However, as The Journal recently reported, these claims mirror a number of misinformative, conspiracy theory driven talking points that have found expression at similar protests held in the US and UK.
According to Children’s Books Ireland CEO Elaina Ryan, these claims of concern over children’s education are merely a cover for the demonstrators’ actual agenda, which is to impose their beliefs on society.
“Those protesting against the availability of books they deem unsuitable aren’t doing so out of a belief that there are better ways to educate our young people on these topics. They are instead attempting to enforce their own beliefs about gender and sexuality on the public – beliefs that deny trans and gender non-conforming people their rights, their safety and even their existence,” she said.
“Those who seek to censor and restrict access to LGBTQ+ books don’t care about the quality of the books or the most appropriate way to talk to young people about sex; they are following a playbook we see too often in the USA, one which seeks to distract us from their real motivations and beliefs.
“It is increasingly frustrating that we continue to have this spurious argument about suitability, rather than doing the important work of promoting excellent books which will inform and enrich children and young people’s lives.”
One of the most high profile of these library demonstrations took place in Tralee, Co Kerry earlier this summer, when a small group of protesters pushed their way into a book reading session attended by young children and their parents. The story time event was hosted by two drag kings (women dressed in men’s clothing).
The protesters shouted the now familiar accusations of grooming and indoctrination as they harassed library staff and filmed those attending the event, many of whom were children.
Recurring questions prompted by the coverage of these incidents have been, what are the books in question and what’s in them?
The answer in this case was Prince and Knight, a children’s fairytale picture book with a reading age of 3 to 8, written by Daniel Haack and illustrated by Stevie Lewis.
The story follows a handsome prince whose parents are keen to find him a bride. After much courting, it becomes apparent that the prince will not fall in love with a princess.
When the kingdom is suddenly attacked by a dragon, the prince rushes off to fight the beast and is aided by a mysterious knight who saves his life in the process. They defeat the dragon, fall in love and the kingdom rejoices in their prince’s happiness.
Even a cursory glance its pages would tell a reader that Prince and Knight is not pornographic or explicit in any way. It’s a book for young children that features a romance, much like all the other books in its genre. The romance just happens to be a gay one.
Other books that have come in for similar attacks and criticism are written for a teenage readership. Rather than illustrated fairytales, these are sex education books, most of which are written for young gay and trans people, as well as their friends and family.
What these books all have in common is that they cover topics related to LGBTQ+ people, rather than taking the traditionally heterosexually oriented approach to sex education that most Irish adults will be familiar with.
Among the titles most commonly brought up by those protesting are Yay! You’re Gay! Now What?, This Book is Gay, What’s the T?, Trans Teen Survival Guide and Sex Ed, An Inclusive Teenage Guide to Sex and Relationships.
Yay! You’re Gay! Now What? is a light-hearted and humorous guide to growing up as a gay boy. It features personal anecdotes from the author, Irishman Riyadh Khalaf, as well as practical advice on going through puberty, practising safe sex, dating, dealing with bullying and coming out.
There is one story about Khalaf losing his virginity, during which the descriptions focus on emotions and setting while skipping over any graphic depictions of sexual acts.
Trans Teen Survival Guide, written by Owl and Fox Fisher, is a sex education textbook aimed at trans teenagers and similarly contains advice on safe sex, STIs, and coming out. It also deals with gender dysphoria, picking out clothes, hormone therapy, gender affirming surgery and explanations of terminology related to gender identity.
Sex Ed, An Inclusive Teenage Guide to Sex and Relationships, published by the School of Sexuality Education, is another textbook which takes a rounded approach to the diversity of human experience in terms of sex, gender and relationships, in this case without a specific focus on one group.
It offers advice and information without presuming the reader’s gender, beginning sections with phrases like, “If you have a vagina…” rather than, say, “If you are a girl…”.
Perhaps the most commented on among the books in question is Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay, which was the focus of a segment on Joe Duffy’s Liveline show on RTÉ radio in April.
This Book is Gay does use some explicit language as well as a highly informal and irreverent register. Dawson’s book is full of practical sex education advice, discussions of academic and medical theory, the debunking of stereotypes, as well as testimony from people surveyed by the author.
Undoubtedly, the tone and choice of words may put some parents off prescribing This Book is Gay to their children. Dawson’s choice of language is somewhat erratic, shifting from using words like “peen” (penis) and “sexyfuntime” to advanced vocabulary like “prosthesis” and “coquettishly”.
There are illustrations of human anatomy and descriptions of erogenous zones, which is nothing out of the ordinary in sex ed books. The section that has drawn the most criticism is the one in which Dawson describes how to perform sex acts.
There are tips on how to give a good “handie” and how to perform oral sex. There are also practical pieces of advice with regard to anal sex.
Quotes that jump out include, “A good handie is all about wrist action” and lines about how give someone a blowjob, “Lips and tongue, yes; teeth, NO.”
It should be noted that the chapter which features this advice is prefaced with a warning about its sexual content.
“If you are a younger reader and feel you aren’t ready for the finer details of same-sex pairings, then simply skip this whole chapter,” it reads, while also mentioning that children as young as 10 are taught about heterosexual sex in the UK.
“The fact that they didn’t also teach you what same-sex couples do is nothing less that institutionalised homophobia,” the warning adds.
The book also stresses repeatedly the importance of consent and practising safe sex throughout.
Another of Dawson’s books, What’s the T?, is very similar and serves as an update to This Book is Gay, this time with a particular focus on trans teenagers. Other than that shift in focus, the books are largely the same, with some language updated to be more inclusive of other gender identities.
This Book is Gay was removed from Children’s Books Ireland’s recommended reading list in April this year. CEO Elaina Ryan says that such decisions are not taken due to outside pressure but out of a need to refresh their list with better, more up-to-date material.
“The books that we include in our reading guides have been carefully read and reviewed by a team of experts,” she said.
“These publications are updated each year to include new titles and remove those that are out of date, out of print or use language that has evolved since their publication. When we choose to remove a book, we go through an internal review process.
“Our final decision is made not because of external pressure, but because we believe that there are other, newer books out there that better serve young people and that are more inclusive and more relevant to Irish readers, particularly as language and terminology evolves over time.”
While the tone of Dawson’s book may not be for everyone, psychotherapist and author Joanna Fortune says that the relatively recent emergence of inclusive sex education books is filling a void that has traditionally existed in the genre and in school curriculums.
“The books and programmes that had existed were not inclusive in tone and content and as such there appears to be a swell of ‘new’ books on the topic but really it was a topic that needed to be updated,” she says.
Sarah Sproule, an occupational therapist and sex educator, shares the view on the need for inclusive sex education and its historical neglect.
She says that in “the history of sexuality education, not just in Ireland but in general, there was a lot of exclusion and a lot of damage done”.
“But that damaging, excluding experience or approach has been seen as what’s ‘normal’.”
“At the moment, we are at a change, where the old ways are morphing into the new ways that are supporting everyone to grow into who they are without shaming, without stigma.”
“But to be honest, I feel like the majority of Irish culture sees and appreciates the importance of the libraries carrying books like this. Because at the end of the day, this is giving young people or young adults access to resources that enable them to accept who they are, and give them information to look after their health and their well being.
“That’s a really positive thing because there are young people growing up in families that maybe are, you know, actively against the type of people, young people they’re growing into.
“And so the library is playing important role in ensuring that growing young people have the resources and the support to take care of their own health, because at the end of the day, this is a wellness and health issue.”
On the content of some of the books that has come in for specific criticism, Sproule explains that good sexuality education should involve accurate descriptions of erogenous zones, advice on STIs and safe sex, as well as unambiguous language that is accessible to learners of varying needs.
“Ideally, good sexuality education resources should be accessible to the maximum number of young people. And so those of us who are able to extrapolate from sort of general descriptions will look at something like ‘don’t use your teeth’ and say it’s too much. But there are young people who need to hear that.”
In terms of the informal tone in some of these books, she posits that it is perhaps the best way to make such material accessible and engaging for a teenage readership.
“Sometimes when we think about education, we have a particular idea about what something that is educational should look like or read like or feel like, and sometimes it’s good to be challenged, I think, particularly for teenagers who almost need irreverence for it to be relevant to them.”
Fortune is not in favour of banning books. She does have advice for parents when it comes to choosing the right reading material though, saying that guardians should read any book they plan to give to their children as a matter of course and that no book can take the place of honest conversations between parents and children.
“Sex education books should serve to support an open, honest and ongoing conversation between parents and children and should never be a replacement for that conversation,” she explained.
“Before you hand your young person a book on sex education, ensure you have read it yourself. Be familiar with the tone, language, information and imagery in that book and be honest about how it makes you feel.
“The first book you pick up may not be the right one for your family, there are many books on this topic so read a number of them and find what works best for you.”
Fortune also recommends researching the author to ensure they are suitably qualified to write a sex education textbook.
“If you read a book with your child and you disagree with something in it, say so and talk about what the issue is with the content you disagree on. Reading something we disagree with can help to consider a topic from others perspectives and to realise there are experiences with a topic other than our own.”
Sproule concurs with Fortune on this too, saying that books provide a useful resource but never a total substitute for adult involvement.
“Books are amazing, because it will give the young person you’re raising a place to go for accurate information when they feel too embarrassed to ask anyone else.”
“Young people still need adults who they trust to go to for information. And not all adults feel comfortable to talk about this and that’s not their fault. But it is their responsibility to seek support to be as open as possible for the kids they’re raising.”
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