“San Antonio Express-News” says school district was right to cancel me

In August, in Georgia, the Forsyth County School District asked me to omit the word “gay” from assemblies for elementary students in grades 3 and up or leave. I left.

In September, on the eve of my tenth and final scheduled day of talks in Northside Independent School District (San Antonio), the same thing happened.

Nancy M. Preyor-Johnson, Deputy Editorial Board Editor & Columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, reached out multiple times for comment. I naively thought her take, like most of the other mainstream press coverage (from the New York Times to the Associated Press), would be in favor of treating all people with respect, as I did in her community, but I was wrong.

Excerpt of my reply to Nancy:

I find it unfortunate that, while you seem to agree with me, the headline (which is all many will read) gives no sign of that. It will fuel the hatefulness of the intolerant.

I also find it unfortunate that your article fails to explain WHY it would be inappropriate to say “gay” to 8-10-year-olds in the context I do. Just because a minority of parents do not like gay people does not mean that gay people do not exist or that it is fine to refer to straight people but not gay people in equally nonsexual terms.

I do appreciate you mentioning that members of the community DID see the value of my visit. 

She replied that she respects me and mostly agrees with me, but that younger students and their parents (emphasis mine) need to be treated differently in conservative states. 

My reply:

They don’t. Precisely my point. Who gay people love is not political to them, just like who you love is not political to you.

Your article could’ve done some good in a community that is not fully living in the 21st century, but instead it will embolden harmful prejudices and make LGBTQ people feel unsafe and unwanted in San Antonio.

By the by, here are reactions to my talks from NISD educators (i.e. people who heard me present and who have the best interest of the kids at heart):

3/12/24 addendum: Northside ISD was wrong to cancel me.

Stories of Hope: Kidlit Against Book Bans

Last year, I created a show called Stories of Hope: Kidlit for Ukraine and produced it with KidLit TV. It was an unprecedented and emotional benefit starring 28 kidlit authors that raised $15,000 (in a week!) for the children of Ukraine.

In August 2023, while speaking at elementary schools in Forsyth County, GA, administrators asked me to leave out the word “gay” from my presentations or leave. I left. This made national news including the New York Times, Newsweek (I wrote this one), Los Angeles Times, AP, and more.

I had already been intending to do a benefit to fight back against book bans and censorship, but this fast-tracked it. 

On 8/24/23, I asked Julie Gribble of KidLit TV, my partner for #KidlitForUkraine, if she was up for this spiritual sequel, including the tight deadline—aiming for Banned Book Weeks (first week of October). She said yes immediately. 

We chose PEN America as the organization to which we’d donate 100% of proceeds.

I tapped Lauren Castillo to design the luminescent logo (her graciousness also glowed!). It is the colorful image within this graphic:

I set out to follow the template of the first show but with an all-new group of 30 children’s authors and allies. Over the next couple of weeks, I lined up a cast that includes the following:

• the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
• a Newbery winner
• two Newbery honorees
• numerous other award winners
• a 30 Rock star

#KidlitAgainstBookBans stars the following:

Anika Aldamuy Denise

Lesa Cline-Ransome

Lisa Fipps

Daniel Handler

Kimberly Latrice Jones

Erin Entrada Kelly

Hena Khan

Adib Khorram

Jo Knowles

Gail Carson Levine

Alex London

Andrea Loney

Jessica Love

Yuyi Morales

Maulik Pancholy

Andrea Davis Pinkney

Toby Price (MI assistant principal fired for reading I Need a New Butt! to 2nd graders)

NoNieqa Ramos

Raul the Third

Jewell Parker Rhodes

Katie Rinderle (GA teacher fired for reading My Shadow Is Purple to 5th graders)

Alex Sanchez

Eliot Schrefer

Jon Scieszka

Laurel Snyder

Christina Soontornvat

Don Tate

Mychal Threets (CA supervising librarian and influencer)

Andrea Wang

Paul O. Zelinsky

Unlike the Ukraine benefit, this got no coverage in kidlit press.

The $4,000 we raised fell short of my goal to match the $15,000 for Ukraine, but I’m happy we were able to contribute something to the ongoing campaign.

I think it was easier to raise money for Ukraine at least in part because we announced that benefit soon after the war started, and it was not just any war—it was the first war in Europe in our lifetime. It was raw, scary, and making headlines daily. (So is book banning, but as we know, many don’t see fighting it as a priority...)

Among the ways I tried to boost the total:

• emailed the 300+ who donated to the Ukraine effort
• asked author/illustrator friends to hand out flyers promoting the benefit at the heavily attended Chappaqua Book Festival on 9/30/23
• because Star Trek actor George Takei posted about my Georgia fracas to his 1.4 million Instagram followers, I asked if he would spread word (if even 1% of his followers contributed, it would add 14,000 donors!)
• asked PEN if they’d ask big names who have supported them if they would plug it on social media 

Unfortunately, I thought of the Chappaqua idea the night before the book fest and the Takei/PEN ideas the day before the show premiered…in other words, too late. 

I hit other roadblocks—KidLit TV backed out a little over a week before the world premiere (so I switched from live streaming to posting the benefit as a video to be removed immediately after), the donation link on the platform I chose to host the fundraiser (Facebook) didn’t work for some people—but in the end, the show went on.

Thank you again to all who donated, spread word, helped behind the scenes, and, of course, told a story of hope.

Censored for saying "gay" in Texas elementary schools (one month after Georgia)

A month after I was censored for saying "gay" during elementary school visits in Georgia, it happened again in Texas.

I must make clear that my experience in the schools themselves (as you will see below) was 100% positive.

Which makes the decision that superintendents made all the more misguided.

The letter I sent to administrators of Northside Independent School District (San Antonio):

Hope you are all well. 

I am the children's author who had the privilege of speaking at 11 eleven NISD schools from 9/18-28, but whose final visit scheduled for 9/29 (Henderson ES) was canceled the night before because two parents complained that I say the word "gay."

Neither the two parents who complained nor whichever of you canceled my talk have heard my talk, read my book, seen my documentary, or met me.

I came in good faith to your district—and hundreds of other communities in 30+ states and almost 20 countries over the past 20 years—to share a multi-layered inspirational message. Hundreds of your kids will attest that I more than delivered on that. So did your staff:

 

(this tweet discovered/added here after emailing administrators)

"Gay" is simply a way to refer to a kind of love, as appropriate as mentioning a straight relationship (which I did multiple times, with no pushback).

The two parents whose ignorance you prioritized over a "amazing/inspiring/intriguing/captivating" presentation are not the victims. They have not and will never suffer because other people love differently than they do.

The victims are the LBGTQ members of your community because your action signals to them that their very existence is taboo to mention. You make them feel unsafe and unwanted.

I spoke with one of the parents who complained. I appreciated that he was willing to connect by phone, but he mostly raged and did not try to reflect on the bigger picture. He could not distinguish between sexual orientation (again, a topic kids as young as two understand) and sex. He said his kid does not need to hear about "Batman fucking Spider-Man." He said this will not end well for me. He said "You messed with the wrong person." This is the person you are defending.

When you have to choose between catering to tolerant or intolerant people, there is no choice. 

You gave in to the wrong side, and if you continue to do that, your legacy will be on the wrong side of history. Upholding discriminatory practices like this will drive more and more good educators and families from your district.

This happened to me in Georgia in August, and the national response was not favorable to people in your position. Here is just some of the press:

• New York Times 
• Newsweek
• Los Angeles Times
• AP (Associated Press)
• NPR
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• The Daily Beast podcast The New Abnormal

It is about to make the San Antonio press as well.

But you can still turn this into a positive by doing the following:

1. apologizing to your community for putting the comfort of two people over the enrichment of an entire school by censoring an established author
2. changing your (unwritten?) policy that stigmatizes the word "gay" in a country where same-sex marriage is legal and a district where gay people live, teach, and learn

I have also posted this letter publicly.

I remain optimistic that I can return to NISD to continue to share my messages of persistence, the adventure of primary research, the thrill of reading, the calling of speaking up for others, the need to give credit where it's due, and tolerance. 

Toward the end of my talks, I say: "Every change in history, no matter how big, starts with one person."

Which of you will be that person in Northside?

10/6/23 addendum: Here is local press coverage. It is not good.

Georgia schools censoring the word "gay": reaction continues

In August 2023, elementary schools in Forsyth County, GA, asked me to leave out the word "gay" from my presentation or leave.

I left.

The incident made national news.

After the Associated Press story posted 9/20/23, many other major outlets picked it up. A sampling (sorry for so many shots of my punim):

The night before, the Forsyth County Board of Education held its first meeting since my school visits, and four members of the community spoke about inclusiveness and censorship. 

The first video is the complete meeting, cued to the comments from the four advocates for compassion. The second video is a highlight reel of those comments.

One Forsyth County Instagrammer said this:

"Schools are not the place for what he is promoting. Take it somewhere else."

I rarely reply in such cases, but did this time:

"I was promoting persistence, primary research, reading, speaking up for others, giving credit where it's due, and tolerance. Which topic in particular do you think I should take somewhere besides schools?"

Tim Bush, artist/kind soul, RIP

In 2011, in trying to convince editors that a widely rejected nonfiction picture book manuscript I wrote was marketable, I called upon both kids and professional illustrators to read it and then create a mock cover for what would become Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story. 

One of the seven generous artists who agreed to do this was Timothy Bush, whom I had met in person only once or twice. 

His contribution was striking, and one that kids routinely single out. (Every summer I teach creative writing camps, tell the story/backstory, and show the mock covers.)

I recently learned that Tim passed away. He and I had not been in touch in years. 

I was always be grateful to Tim for taking time to create a work of art for no pay and for me, a person he barely knew.