Newly appointed Central Bucks Board of School Directors, Karen Smith, was sworn into office Dec. 4. (Photo by Diana Leygerman/X)
Newly appointed Central Bucks Board of School Directors, Karen Smith, was sworn into office Dec. 4; however, unlike her other newly sworn-in board members who placed their hands on the more traditional Bible, Smith opted to use a stack of books on LGBTQ+ themes and race that had been banned by the previous board.
Smith, an incumbent Democrat, who won re-election on Nov. 7 was sworn in as the new Central Bucks school board president after a vote by the board. In her remarks she told the audience, “Thank you for your trust in me. I do not take this hand lightly. I feel it as a very heavy responsibility, and you have my word, I will do my best for everyone,” Smith said. “To my supporters, I am so very thankful. To those of you who have challenged me, I will do all I can to hear your voices and concerns.”
Fox News and conservatives, including the former GOP-majority board members, labeled one of the books Smith used to be sworn in to office as “sexually explicit.” That book, “Flamer,” written by openly gay author Mike Curato, received a Lambda Literary Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature in 2021. Curato is a Filipino-American writer and illustrator of children’s books.
Fox characterized “Flamer” as “the story of a character who is bullied at a Boy Scouts summer camp for ‘acting in a manner considered stereotypical of gay men.’ The graphic novel includes characters discussing pornography, erections, masturbation, penis size and an illustration that depicts naked teenage boys.”
Journalist Chris Ullery, reporting for the Bucks County Courier-Times newspaper, noted: “Smith, named president of the board, and the other Democrats on the board have long cried foul as the former GOP-majority forged ahead with controversial library policy that critics said was a defacto book ban.”
According to the Courier-Times, the book on top of the stack Smith was sworn in on was “Night,” a book by Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel, which was part of a February controversy over books.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a Central Bucks South High School librarian’s ninth grader sent him a quote from Wiesel’s 1986 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented,” said Wiesel.
The librarian included the quote along with a copy of “Night” in a library display; however, this was shortly after the former school board passed a “neutrality” policy that barred classroom displays advocating politics or social policy unless related to a lesson.
School officials at the direction of the former GOP-majority board ordered the librarian to remove the display, though that order was rescinded the next day and the posters allowed. The incident went viral on social media generating a flood of criticism for the district, which later apologized and said it regretted the decision to remove the posters.
That neutrality policy, Policy 321, was one of four policies placed on a freeze by Smith and her colleagues when they took office on Monday.
In addition to “Flamer,” the Courier-Times noted, Smith brought along three other titles she was prompted to read when they first appeared on the Woke PA list.
Donna Gephart’s “Lily and Dunkin,” a copy Smith borrowed from Holicong Middle School for Monday, follows the story of the friendship between two eighth graders, a transgender girl and a boy with bipolar disorder.
“Lily and Dunkin” was said to contain “strong sexual content” by Woke PA and some parents who complained to the district, a claim Smith told the Courier-Times gave her pause.
“I read all the way through the book and there’s nothing. There’s not even a kiss,” Smith said.
The only reason Smith could determine for the “sexual content” warning was the fact that one of its main characters was transgender, she said to the paper.
“Just the existence of a transgender student in the book was enough for some folks who want to challenge it, and it’s a beautiful story,” Smith added.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
