Parents called the police on a teacher who offered students an LGBTQ+ book

The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender.
Photo: Amazon

A middle school teacher in Illinois quit her job after parents reported her to the police for offering an LGBTQ+-themed book to her students.

“The notion that I was putting children in danger because of books — I didn’t feel safe,” National Council of Teachers of English award-winning teacher Sarah Bonner told Today.com. “I knew I couldn’t go back.”

In mid-March, Bonner held what she calls a “book tasting,” offering her eighth-grade English students at Heyworth Junior High School a variety of fiction and nonfiction books. One of the books was Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay, a nonfiction work about sexuality and gender aimed at young adults that centers the LGBTQ+ experience. The book was among the 13 most challenged books of 2022, according to a list compiled by the American Library Association.

Bonner, who is also an instructor at Illinois State University and the co-author of a guide to developing classrooms that welcome curiosity and ignite social action, said that in her 20 years of teaching she has aimed to prepare her students for the more diverse environments they may encounter after graduating. She has included books centering Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ characters and themes in her curriculum.

“I’ve been fortunate up until now to be supported by the communities that I’ve taught with,” she said.

But within days of the March “book tasting,” Bonner said, “I received notice that parents…

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