CBSD asked extremist hate group to advise on book-ban policy
Recent reporting reveals anti-LGBT group's involvement in controversial new rule
Quick editor’s note: This newsletter has been mostly quiet since the last school board election, largely due to outrage fatigue. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to be outraged about.
The upside to all that? Local, regional, and even national news outlets have started paying more attention to the right-wing takeover of our school district.
To that end, I’m going to repurpose this newsletter to share summaries of news coverage so concerned citizens can stay up-to-date more easily. Look for updates about twice a month. Email me at notnormalincbsd@gmail.com if you spot a story you think I should include.
Extremist hate group digitally altered text of controversial new CBSD policy
Quick background:
CBSD recently adopted Policy 109.2, which lays out criteria for removing supposedly questionable material from school libraries based on criticism from “individuals or groups.”
This policy is hugely controversial within the community, with many citizens voicing concern that Policy 109.2 is a thinly disguised book ban that creates a mechanism to remove LGBTQ-related material. The policy has a specific emphasis on sexual acts, implied sexual acts, nudity, and implied nudity.
What just happened?
The Bucks County Courier Times recently reported that an attorney from Pennsylvania Family Institute directly edited the final draft of the policy. As reported by WHYY, The PA Family Institute is a state branch of the Family Research Council, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an “extremist hate group.” (More on this below.)
The changes by this group included removing language that would’ve required books to be evaluated for literary merit before removal. This effectively allows the review committee to sidestep recommendations from our district’s professional librarians and educators.
What proof do we have?
The Bucks County Courier Times received a leaked digital draft of the policy before it was published. The news outlet examined the metadata and found that the document was digitally altered by someone identified as “jsamek.”
The news outlet was eventually able to determine that “jsamek” is the PA Family Institute’s Senior Counsel Jeremy Samek.
In a Jan. 20 email to CBSD parents, the school district stated that the legal review for the policy was conducted for free by the Independence Law Firm, but failed to note that this is the legal arm of the PA Family Institute.
Why does it matter?
If the CBSD is actively seeking input from a branch of the Family Research Council, it provides even more evidence that our district is knowingly creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ students. We are already being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for this very thing.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center:
The Family Research Council often makes false claims about the LGBTQ community based on discredited research and junk science … To make the case that the LGBTQ community is a threat to American society, the FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed the FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate. Its research fellows and leaders often testify before Congress and appear in the mainstream media. It also works at the grassroots level, conducting outreach to pastors in an effort to “transform the culture.”
“Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects.”
— Family Research Council website, 2016
“The position of social conservatives regarding homosexuality is based on the conviction that homosexual conduct is objectively harmful.
— FRC senior fellow Peter Sprigg, “How to Respond to the LGBT Movement,” pamphlet published February 2018
What’s happening now?
WHYY reports that five books have been challenged so far. They include:
“Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson, “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, “Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin, and “Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews.
Links and other recent coverage
Sources cited above:
Conservative group involved in Central Bucks library regulations some fear as defacto book ban
Other recent coverage:
Central Bucks teachers protest flurry of ‘anti-LGBTQ’ policies and directives
Petition To Redraw Central Bucks School District’s Regions Map Would Reshape School Board Elections
Battle Over Fair Voting Districts In Central Bucks Headed To Court