MIDDLEBURY — Individually and in small groups they filed into the Middlebury Union High School Library on Monday evening, preparing to bare their souls to an Addison Central School District board that could, in the near future, field a request by two Middlebury parents to ban seven books used at Mary Hogan Elementary to broaden kindergarteners’ understanding of gender-identity themes (see related story).

Around 25 people wedged themselves into the small library meeting space, with several more queued up on Zoom.

Some were transgender.

Some were members of Midd Pride.

All spoke fiercely and at times tearfully about the proposed book ban, borrowing from their own life experiences to make their case.

None of those assembled in person or virtually spoke in favor of withdrawing the questioned class material.

Among the speakers was Jess Venable-Novak of Middlebury, a transgender person and parent of two children, including one in Middlebury schools. Venable-Novak recounted how their family was “elated” to move to the district three years ago, after having been told by a school board member in their former community that the family was “perverse and didn’t belong there.”

Venable-Novak said they and their partner specifically wanted to send their oldest child to the Mary Hogan school because of its population, curriculum and reputation as being welcoming.

“My family knows the books on this (ban) list very well; we read them sometimes daily,” Venable-Novak said, adding the family routinely gifts these books to school and childcare officials at the programs their children attend.

“They are truly the best tools to teach kids about the experiences of different humans who happen to be trans,” Venable-Novak said. “These books have already created space for families like mine, and space for kids … We’re here, we’re real people, trans people, gender-diverse toddlers, queer teens. And these books have already worked to make a world of difference for us, right here.”

The books targeted by the two parents include “They He She Me: Free to be!” by Maya Christina Gonzales and Matthew Smith Gonzales, “Bodies are Cool” by Tyler Feder, “It Feels Good to Be Yourself” by Theresa Thorn, “Julián is A Mermaid” by Jessica Love, “Introducing Teddy” by Jessica Walton, “Sparkle Boy” by Leslea Newman, and “Fred Gets Dressed” by Peter Brown.

Also taking the floor was Corey Selover, a transgender person who used to reside in Middlebury and now lives in Lincoln. Selover teaches martial arts and coaches hockey locally.

“You can’t stop people from being transgender,” Selover said. “I know, because I tried very hard. I tried for the first 28 years of my life to convince myself I wasn’t trans. I failed. I tried everything — I prayed to God to take these feelings away from me. I tried physically hurting myself when these thoughts came up. I tried drinking a lot of alcohol. That did not work.”

Selover said things changed upon meeting a transgender person for the first time.

“I realized I wasn’t the only person who felt this way. My life changed for the better, immediately.

“Meeting this person did not turn me trans, nor would reading a book about transgender people,” Selover said. “What meeting this person did for me was plant this seed of an idea that maybe there was another way to deal with the feelings I was encountering; that maybe I deserved to feel happy and that I could be out in the world as I felt comfortable. Maybe I could believe the stories my body was telling me.”

Selover noted high suicide rates among transgender youth. Data indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth, according to a 2022 report from the National Library of Medicine.

“My very first memory was telling my mother that I was a girl, and her telling me that was ridiculous,” Selover said. “I was four years old, and already ashamed of my own feelings. I felt confused and alone and scared. Often, I wondered, ‘What if there had been books like (those at Mary Hogan) in my classroom when I was a kid?’ What if I had known there was a single adult who made me feel safe to talk about what I was feeling? Maybe I could have skipped my suicide attempts. Maybe my childhood could have been filled with joy, instead of shame and fear.”

Selover concluded by stating, “I am happier than I have ever been, since transitioning. I wonder how much easier those first 28 years of my life could have been. Banning these books will not stop children from being transgender, but they may stop them from growing up.”

CRITICAL THINKING

JACK MAYER, a retired pediatrician who cared for thousands of Middlebury-area children during a career spanning more than 40 years, was one of around 20 people who appeared at Monday’s Addison Central School District meeting to speak against a book-ban attempt at Mary Hogan Elementary School.
Independent photo/John Flowers

Also speaking was Dr. Jack Mayer, who for many decades served as a much-respected pediatrician in Middlebury.

“I’ve spent almost 50 years of my life advocating for children” he told the crowd, adding he believed that “banning books limits students’ abilities to learn and grow, it undermines critical thinking. Restricting information and discouraging free thought undermines one of the primary functions of education, which is teaching students how to think for themselves.”

Mayer noted the most banned book in the U.S. is George Orwell’s “1984,” which ironically warns of the dangers of totalitarian government. He warned that banning the seven books on the complainants’ list could serve to erase LGBTQ+ people.

“Parents can make their decisions about their own children, but they should not be able to make decisions about other people’s kids,” he said. “Students deserve to see themselves reflected in the books that are available to them.”

Jordan Young is a parent who chaired the former Cornwall School Board. He said he’s a transsexuality educator and clinical counselor, who identifies as gender nonbinary.

“Those students access to these kinds of books opens the conversation for themselves, just as I needed access to that information when I was younger,” Young told the board.

They noted one of the most iconic pictures of book burning was the torching, by a mob of Nazi sympathizers, of books and other materials that has been taken from the ransacked Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin on May 6, 1933.

“Please don’t let the momentum toward a replay of that moment begin here. Let our students have access to the information they need in order to lead the healthy, diverse fulfilled lives that they must discover for themselves,” Young said.

Middlebury resident Sheena Wilson tearfully recounted how she and her family recently moved to Middlebury from North Texas, in large part due to the area’s broad acceptance of folks from all walks of life.

Wilson, the parent of a Mary Hogan 7-year-old, shared her concern about a growing pattern of book censorship in Texas. She said some schools there have moved to ban books about evolution, sexuality, race and other issues, while promoting Christian-themed literature.

“I don’t want Vermont to become Texas,” Wilson said. “If we allow one book to be banned, we open the door for widespread censorship and the potential for a single ideology to dominate our educational system.”

“This meeting is a call to action. You must remain vigilant and ensure our schools remain a safe space where all students are welcomed, respected and empowered to learn and grow.”

Monday’s speakers included recent MUHS grads. Grace Vining, a member of the class of 2022 who is now a college student, Zoomed into Monday’s meeting to share her thoughts on a potential book ban.

“It’s really important we stand for all members of our community,” she said, adding “books are a way that people see themselves, and are a way that people know they exist. It would be really, really hurtful to ban something just because we don’t understand it or because we think of it as something that’s dangerous, when in fact it’s much more dangerous to tell someone they shouldn’t exist in the body and identity that is theirs.”

2023 MUHS grad Ari Graham-Gurland is a Dartmouth College student. She told the crowd it was the books that her parents read to her, and that she found in her classrooms, that made her — as a member of a two-mom family — “never feel ostracized.”

She said it wasn’t until she was 12 years old that she realized most of her peers didn’t live in two-mom households.

“That’s the magic of this community,” Graham-Gurland said. “There were little instances of homophobia growing up, but for the most part, I was raised in an incredibly supportive community — and that’s thanks to the prevalence of diversity in our libraries, in being in this (MUHS) library for four years and seeing the diversity of romances on the walls.”

ALL DIFFERENT KINDS

Paige Pierson and her partner raised their son in Shoreham. She related how a second-grade teacher read the book “Heather Has Two Mommies” to her son’s class after a teasing incident.

“She (told the students) there are all different kinds of families that make up the world,” Pierson recalled. “We thought, ‘How great was that?’ that this book was there to show that there are different kinds of people.

“I always felt we were safe in Vermont from what’s going on,” she added, tearfully referring to taunts and homophobia more prevalent in other states. “I can’t imagine Vermont being somewhere where book bans are going on.”

She said her late mother was indoctrinated with Nazi hate propaganda as a child growing up in Germany during the late 1930s and early 1940s. She became very progressive later in life, according to Pierson.

“That started with book bans in the schools,” Pierson said. “We do not, as a society, want to do that. If one book can help a child, it was worth it.”

Poppy Rees of Middlebury is an educator, parent and director of religious exploration at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society (CVUUS). She oversees the CVUUS’s youth programs

“My UU faith calls for me to fight for inclusion and worked toward beloved community,” she told the school board.

Rees echoed others’ concerns about how banning the seven Mary Hogan kindergarten books could increase the isolation that some children feel for being different, as well as potentially affect their tolerance of such individuals.

“It’s very important to get to see yourself in places, so you don’t feel like you’re the only one, of that you need to hide who you really are,” she said. “Helping keep books like this in our libraries helps grow kids who will not tease, bully, hurt, kill and legislate against people who aren’t the same identity as them, or who don’t fit into some special identity they think is right, or best.”

Maurice Bissonnette of Middlebury quoted statistics indicating only 0.29% of the U.S. population identifies as non-binary, while 1% identifies as trans.

“This is one of the smallest minorities in America; in Vermont it’s around 3,000 people identifying as trans, according to a UCLA Law School study. That’s 3,000 Vermonters out of 650,000 people. It’s not a lot of people, but it’s not insignificant,” Bissonnette said. “These are your neighbors, these are your kids, these are kids I’ve worked with, these are family and friends. I want my family and friends to feel accepted in this community.”

He pointed to a $35 million super-PAC effort during the recent General Election to disparage the trans community.

“Books are not going to make anyone trans or non-binary, but what a book can do is make someone feel accepted,” Bissonnette said.

Margie Latham, who weighed in via Zoom, said, “I don’t think banning books is going to serve anyone’s wellbeing, especially the wellbeing of people who are being discriminated against by a book ban.

“I think it’s a travesty that in a state like Vermont, we have people trying to ban books,” she concluded. “It’s a slippery slope. I wonder what the next round of books to be banned would be requested.”

The Rutland Area NAACP issued a statement condemning the book ban effort at Mary Hogan School.

“The NAACP strongly condemns any attempt to ban books, especially for elementary students, as it undermines students’ fundamental right to access diverse ideas and perspectives,” reads the statement, from Mia Schulz, president of the organization. “Throughout history, book bans have been used to silence marginalized voices, restrict intellectual freedom, and control the narratives surrounding race, identity, and history. These efforts are a direct attack on the educational system’s mission to foster critical thinking, creativity, and an appreciation for diversity.”

John Flowers is at [email protected].