Georgia’s second-largest school district says that it has removed two books from 20 school libraries, saying the books had “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”

The announcement, sent in an electronic message to parents in some Cobb County schools on Monday, comes days after the Republican-majority school board voted 4-3 along party lines to fire a teacher for reading a book about gender identity to fifth-grade students.

Although not new, book removals have surged since 2020, part of a backlash to what kids read and discuss in public schools. Conservatives want to stop children from reading books with themes on sexuality, gender, race and religion that they find objectionable. PEN America, a group promoting freedom of expression, counted 4,000 instances of books banned nationwide from July 2021 to December 2022.

  • @treefrog@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    “Flamer” is a graphic novel about a boy who is discovering he is gay and how he is treated at summer camp. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” contains some discussion of sex and a lot of profanity, but is mainly about two high school boys who befriend a girl dying of cancer.

    From the article.

    • gabe [he/him]A
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      2610 months ago

      I’ve read flamer and it’s kind of telling how people want it banned. It makes me wonder if people who are deeply opposed to it feel called out by it’s core messaging

        • gabe [he/him]A
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          510 months ago

          Cognitive dissonance is one of hell of a drug for some people, don’t underestimate it

          • JackbyDev
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            910 months ago

            The irony of this statement is that it is not a hell of a drug for people. Cognitive dissonance does not refer to the state of having contradictory beliefs, it refers to the feeling of discomfort one should experience from hold contradictory beliefs.

            • gabe [he/him]A
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              410 months ago

              You get what I mean at least I think though 🤷‍♀️

              • JackbyDev
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                210 months ago

                Yeah of course, I don’t think we should stop using it the colloquial way

                • gabe [he/him]A
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                  10 months ago

                  Dude it’s 9am where I am, I just woke up and posted a comment without fully proofreading it. Maybe consider not being an aggressive asshole and gently correct me instead? My intention was to say that they likely do read it and reach the conclusion they want and the irony of that goes over their head. I simply stated I assumed you understood what I actually meant

                  • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                    -210 months ago

                    What kind of proofreading would have got you to learn what the word meant?

                    You didn’t know, now you do.

                    Move on and be happy you learned, pretending you always did doesn’t help. Especially since you think I’m someone else.

                    Ironically enough, you’re acting even more like the people you were talking shit about now. You all have more in common than you think apparently

      • @treefrog@lemm.ee
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        210 months ago

        If the message is understanding for gay children it stands against their whole fascist agenda.