‘Ban Vote’ book unleashes chaos at Spring Lake Michigan school board meeting

A Michigan school board meeting over the fate of a controversial library book fell off the rails Monday evening, with enthusiastic speakers expressing their anger and pushing political agendas.

The noisy crowd became so unruly that the board members were forced to abruptly end the discussion – after a vote to severely restrict students’ access to the book, Gender: Memoirs.

The Spring Lake School Board held a meeting Monday to discuss students’ access to Maya Copape’s graphic novel, superintendent Dennis Forton told the Daily Beast. The book is known to have been banned in schools across the country, with many parents and community members claiming that its sexual content is inappropriate for students. The coming-of-age story details Kobabe’s non-binary experience, and has been praised for helping other non-binary children better understand themselves.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Furton said the review panel initially dismissed a parent’s complaint about gay sex She chose to keep the book on the provincial shelves. However, the parent filed an appeal with the Board of Education, which led to a district vote on Monday.

“In this particular case, the complainant handled everything very maturely and very diplomatically, but he did express his concerns about the book,” said Furton.

He explained that some parents and students attended until Monday night’s meeting to appeal to board members to keep the book on the library’s shelves.

But, in a 4-3 vote, the board eventually chose to restrict access to gay sex.

According to Forton, students will now be connected to a school counselor if they want to see the book. The advisor will then contact the students’ parents or guardians for permission to allow them to review the book.

“We don’t want to make this difficult. Students and young adults who express interest in the book because they want to get to know themselves and want to get to know some of their peers,” said Forton, “will have access to your choice of either supporting it or rejecting it.” This is the best we can do under these circumstances.”

The supervisor also explained that a process already exists whereby parents can prevent their children from reading certain books by contacting area libraries.

“We have safeguards in place to address this issue in a number of different ways,” he said. “There is no reason for ugliness.”

Board member Cathy Breen, who was a member of the original review committee and voted to keep the graphic novel, said she can understand parents’ concerns about the book’s sexually explicit imagery — but she thinks the topic can help some students.

“I think this is intended for the public, it’s not offensive,” she told The Daily Beast. “It might make them feel uncomfortable, but they were already uncomfortable in their own skin. They are looking for answers. I think the book helps.”

“Yes, this book might not be for me, but it might be for someone else,” she added. “And I don’t want to take it from them.”

After the vote on Monday night, Furton said, speakers had the opportunity to share public comments for the board of directors and attend the meeting. This is when things got out of hand.

“That’s kind of the gist of when things went wrong,” he said. “Things are getting kinda ugly.”

Fiorton said Spring Lake School Board Chair Jennifer Nichols provided guidelines for speakers to make public comments, but many in the audience were upset by the three-minute speaking limit.

“The first speaker started, and three minutes later…I told her her time was up, and she refused to stop and members of the audience who were there to support her position tried to yell at me,” said Vorton. “She continued, and we asked her again to stop and she refused.”

according to Local news outlet WZZM 13This parent wanted to ban the book completely from the boycott. But Nichols said speakers on both sides of the issue have lost all sense of order. Brin told The Daily Beast that she’s never experienced a school board meeting this crazy.

“Really, all decency started to fall apart at that moment when people were standing up and shouting and pointing,” Furton added. “There were probably a few hundred people, maybe 200 people there last night.”

As things got so completely out of hand, Furton said the board announced a vacation so members could break up and then try to regain control of the room.

“Two of my board members have commented to me that they are a little scared for their safety,” Furton said.

Nickels told the Daily Beast that she felt helpless.

“I didn’t like what I was seeing,” she said.

After the break, the council unsuccessfully tried to continue the meeting. Furton said another speaker started shouting his comments without a microphone.

“It was very theatrical,” he said.

At that point, the board decided to postpone the meeting.

Nickels said the adults at the meeting were supposed to set an example for the students. Instead, she said she was frustrated that the chaos prevented the students from being heard. The whole ordeal kept her from sleeping on Monday night.

“I think we have some work to do in our community to work together. I’m happy to try to do that. But it can’t just be one person. It has to be the community,” Nichols told The Daily Beast.

Nickles, who voted for limited access to gay sexlater released a statement on social media that she also shared with The Daily Beast regarding the board’s decision.

“Our board has been divided and I respect the positions of my fellow board members,” she wrote. I know this decision was not easy for anyone. Allowing school counselors, social workers, and psychologists to access this book if the student requested it seemed like a compromise. However, I also know that this decision can be seen as just another hurdle for a student in need. …I will follow up with our media specialist to make sure there are other resources for LGBTQ+ students to help fill the void left from removal [Gender Queer] from the library shelf.

Brin felt that the attempt to ban the book was merely a political tactic.

“I think the book isn’t really the problem. In this area, there is a very organized and coordinated effort by a group … she says they are all aimed at restoring parental rights,” Brin said. “I think the book is sure some people might not care. legitimately, but I feel the book was just another tool to create some chaos.”

Both Nickels and Forton believe that the meeting was particularly chaotic due to the upcoming elections.

“A few years ago, we didn’t need anyone to report on school board meetings because there was nothing of interest,” Furton said. “[School board meetings have] becoming a focal point of much political activity.”

Nichols echoed this: “I feel like there’s a lot of political motivation to this.” “It’s not unique to Spring Lake, and I don’t think we won’t see the same things happening across the United States.”

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