School board upholds ban on 'Flamer' graphic novel over sexual imagery, LGBTQ activists are outraged

A school district in Georgia voted to uphold a ban on a graphic novel with sexual imagery from school libraries, and LGBTQ activists are outraged.

The Marietta School District had issued guidelines for school library books in September, but any decision could be challenged by parents of students in the district. Kayla Sargent appealed the decision over the 370-page graphic novel "Flamer" and forced a special meeting to decide the issue on Thursday.

"If you actually read the book, you see right away that it’s not sexually explicit," Sargent told WAGA-TV. "It’s certainly not pornographic."

However, a review of the book found numerous questionable images involving a 14-year-old character engaging in masturbation and being attracted to naked, underage males.

"This is extremely inappropriate. It goes beyond what is normal kids are saying," said Becky Simmons, a parent who supported the restrictions on the book. "Our tax dollars should not be paying for pornographic material."

The school board agreed with Simmons and voted 6 to 1 to continue the restriction.

School board member Jason Waters also objected to the book's depiction of suicidal thoughts. He went on to say that there will likely be other books banned from public schools.

"Might there be more? Sure. Is it going to be a massive amount? I really don’t think so," Waters said. "That was never the intent of this."

Sargent implied that the book might have helped queer and minority children to avoid mental illness.

"If you look at the statistics on adolescent mental health right now, the suicide rate are increasing. Not decreasing," she continued. "Particularly among queer and children of color."

She claimed that her 10-year-old, a 5th grader, read the graphic novel comfortably with a few minor conversations about the controversial issues depicted.

A poll in October found that 85% of Americans oppose controversial books with sexually explicit content in elementary schools. 79% said they were opposed to explicit books in middle schools while 69% said they were opposed to explicit content in high schools.

Democrats have decidedly chosen to defend sexual content in books at public schools.

"All books should be in the library. All books. This is America. We don't ban books," said first lady Jill Biden in 2022.

Here's a local news report about the book restriction:

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