CISD superintendent weighs in on controversial book; panel’s report to keep it is released
UPDATE: On Friday, the Canutillo Independent School District released a report compiled by a panel that determined the controversial book 'Gender Queer: A Memoir' to be age-appropriate for high school students.
You can read that report below.
See an image of a poster showing pages from the book by clicking here.
ORIGINAL REPORT: CANUTILLO, Texas-- Another chapter in the battle over a controversial graphic novel. The book 'Gender Queer: A Memoir' was ruled to be age-appropriate for high school students, and as such will be allowed to stay in the Canutillo High School Library.
It had been under review, where a panel was weighing its value on several key factors before ultimately voting 8-1 to keep it in circulation. Parents ABC-7 spoke with at a school board meeting earlier this week were livid. ABC-7 spoke with the superintendent to get his perspective of the review.
"The book is graphic and explicit at times but is meant for mature and specific audiences, the book addresses many educational topics to include gender roles, puberty, menstruation, cancer, crushes, LGBTQ pronouns, other queer and relationships, friends. The memoir provides us with information that can guide our LGBTQ students to develop confidence in who they are," Pedro Galaviz, Canutillo Independent School District superintendent, said.
Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse once news broke of the panel's decision. Angry parents have been lodging threats and harassing faculty according to the district's superintendent.
"Our high school librarian has been threatened, harassed. People are calling up saying, 'you're a pedophile. This is porn. You should go to hell', we are receiving all that," Galaviz said.
Galaviz has now asked for a second opinion from the Texas Attorney General to keep the review panel anonymous for their safety. That panel was made up of parents and faculty, and Galaviz would like to keep their names and their vote anonymous.
