Lake County Gazette

Chris DiLullo, an activist with PACC 4 Kids, is infuriated with Antioch School District 117 after the district decided to keep the book "Gender Queer" in the schools' libraries after his group challenged the book.

“The school district went through [its] challenge process, decided that it was going to stay on the shelf," DiLullo said. "We came up with a compromise with the school district where maybe they would at least control access to it and put it in the guidance counselor’s offices and put it behind the circulation desk because of the inappropriate photo or inappropriate drawings in it that we were trying to restrict access for students who may feel like they need that book, but mainly because it has a lot of inappropriate material in it. We at least wanted to control access to it."

DiLullo said the district's decision was influenced by LGBTQ+ activists "that don't even live in our schools, in our school district."

"And the book was basically put back on the shelf," he said. "The school district told us that they were just going to put it on the shelf, and that was the end of it. It was just going to be available to students."

The Harlem Unit School District 122 has removed the book "GenderQueer" from its school. Lynette Hoffman told WIFR that the book is porn: "We're talking incest, molestation and pedophilia." The book has faced criticism from parents across the country for being too sexual and inappropriate for students, Rockford Sun reported.

Last June, a parent in Barrington School District 220, told the school board that her sixth grader was assigned "Gender Queer" as summer reading. The mother told the board, "There’s words, ‘blowjob' and ‘gayship.’ This is exactly what I would expect a pedophile to behave when approaching a child. To normalize sexual behavior, to abuse them. And this is how I see you." The irate parent told the board to 'Stop sexualizing kids and stop abusing them,' according to North Cook News.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) has weighed in on the issue as well. 

"The people pushing pornographic books in our schools are doing it deliberately," he said. "We need more school leaders and school boards like the one in Machesney Park to take a stand for children. It's time school officials did their jobs rather than shrugging their shoulders and acting surprised when alerted to the contents of these books, which even include illustrations of children in sex acts."

He also said that with "Gender Queer" being part of middle school curriculums, he is "deeply troubled by the prospect of what is basically pornographic material being anywhere near a summer reading list for 11-year-olds." He pledged that when elected as governor, he "would put pressure on local districts to stop promoting books harmful to our kids. Parents, teachers and administrators at the local level should be united in a common desire to protect kids."