Challenged in Texas: My Princess Boy and This Day in June.
From the LA Times:
The library has received more than 50 "challenge forms" raising concerns about the picture books, both of which are aimed at readers ages 4 to 8. At least one of the residents objecting to the books claims they endorse "the gay lifestyle" and encourage "perversion."
Courtney Kincaid, the director of the library, said she moved "This Day in June" to the nonfiction section but declined to remove the books outright. "The books have color drawings and have some rhymes," she said. "Lesbians and gays are in this community, and they deserve to have some items in this collection.
From a statement released by Granbury City Council member Rose Myers (via WFAA):
"My decision to sign a protest regarding the book My Princess Boy was clearly based on the fact that if the library would not move the books and keep them in an appropriate location, then they should be removed [...] Can a four year old understand the content of this book without the help of an adult? In my opinion, No!"
Somehow I can't imagine said councilwoman objecting to the children's room placement of, say, The Wind in the Willows or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or Peter Pan or The Secret Garden or The Velveteen Rabbit or the works of Hans Christian Andersen and Beatrix Potter, even though most four year olds would need the help of an adult to understand them (let alone read them).
It really gets my goat when a book is clearly challenged because of ONE THING—a desire to pretend that a certain group of people don't exist, in this case the LGBTQIA+ community—but those in support of the books' removal attempt to claim otherwise.
Just own your homophobia and/or various -isms, is what I'm saying.
Otherwise it makes you look insincere and vaguely finky.
...and the moral of this story, folks, is that Leila maybe shouldn't post about book challenges when she's hangry.