Police deployed to Massachusetts school to investigate explicit graphics in 'Gender Queer' after parents complain

A police officer was dispatched to a middle school in Massachusetts following an anonymous complaint that an eighth-grade classroom was being used to read a notorious banned book on gender expression.

The controversial book in question, "Gender Queer, A Memoir," features sexually graphic content and has been the most banned book across the country for the past two years, according to the American Library Association. The book is a personal memoir by author Maia Kobabe.

The Great Barrington Police Department dispatched an officer to W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School in Great Barrington on Dec. 8 to search for the book. The department received a complaint about "concerning illustrations" that are featured in the book, and the complainant reported that the book included images of sexual acts, the New York Post reports.

Police Chief Paul Storti said that because a formal complaint had been filed, the department had a "duty to examine" the allegations.

Together with the teacher, an officer who had arrived at the school near the end of the day searched for the book but was unsuccessful in finding it.

District Superintendent Peter Dillion said in a statement that he wished the anonymous complainant had come to the district before notifying the police and claimed that the book is "not a class text but a supplemental material that students can request to sign out."

"We have systems to respond to concerns about curriculum," said Dillion.

Jennifer Guerin, the school's librarian, slammed the banning of the book and claimed that it's an important subject matter for students who might be exploring their gender identity.

Speaking to Berkshire Eagle, Guerin said it's "critically important for concerned community members to remember that the current situation is not about forcing a book into students' hands."

"It's about the freedom to read. It's about providing voluntary access to a well-written, highly acclaimed resource in a safe place for a teenager who might want or need it," she said.

After the incident spread across the state, Governor Maura Healey (D-MA) weighed in on the issue and said: "book banning has no place in Massachusetts."

Gender Queer has banned in schools across the country, featuring graphic depictions and discussion of sexual activities. In May 2022, the Circuit Court for the City of Virginia Beach deemed two novels to be "obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors," which included the controversial graphic novel "Gender Queer, A Memoir."