A Gainesville High School (GHS) parent’s challenges to several school library books in September resulted in Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) removing one book from its libraries last week. Though the school’s library advisory council was in favor of keeping all three books, GHS principal Daniel Ferguson chose to remove “Beyond Magenta” for depicting sexual conduct. 

A new state law, House Bill 1069, which took effect in July, requires schools to remove any materials in classrooms or school libraries that contain depictions meeting the state definition of sexual conduct—if a parent raises a concern. Parents can also ask for consideration if they feel the material is pornographic, unsuited to student needs, or inappropriate for the grade level. 

Concerned parents in Alachua County can now challenge a book using a form found on the district website. After a principal receives such a form, the complaint goes before the school’s library advisory council. The council’s job is to help select school library materials and consider whether such complaints have merit. 

“Beyond Magenta,” a 2014 book edited by Susan Kuklin, is a non-fiction collection of first-person interviews with six transgender or gender-neutral young adults. The book contains descriptions of children as young as 6 years old engaging in sex acts. 

“From six up, I used to kiss other guys in my neighborhood, make out with them, and perform oral sex on them. I liked it. I used to love oral,” one portion of the book reads. 

The parent who submitted the request for consideration, Crystal Marull, said she did not expect it to be a big deal. Marull, a professor at the University of Florida and mother of three children, said she has always communicated with her children’s schools when she has concerns, from scary movies to reading lists. The difference this time was that she had to fill out a form, which, as public record, was soon forwarded to media outlets. 

“I’m just a parent, trying to do what’s right,” Marull said in a phone interview. 

According to the district’s media specialist, Patty Duval, Marull flagged two other books at GHS at the same time: “Understanding Sexual Identity” by Janice E. Ranch and “Being Transgender” by Laura Ross and Robert Rodi. 

The forms Marull filled out required a reason for her concern, and she wrote that the books were misleading about religious institutions and the physical and psychological side effects of transitioning.  

She also flagged a chapter of “Understanding Sexual Identity” for normalizing youth voyeurism through a story about a boy who seeks out glimpses of a particular choir boy getting changed.  

The library advisory council unanimously favored keeping all three books in circulation, but Ferguson overruled them on “Beyond Magenta,” citing the new state law. The council determined the other two books were “relevant and informative,” formatted as textbook-type informational volumes and studded with stories. 

Autumn Doughton, who has authored several books, is the parent liaison for GHS’s library advisory council. She said the fact that all three books were on LGBTQ+ topics made her uneasy, especially because ACPS is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month this October. 

Doughton said she thinks the books should stay because all students have the right to see themselves represented in school libraries. She also argued that even if children’s sexual behaviors are present in a book, that does not necessitate that the books are promoting such actions. 

“We understand that not every book is for everybody and not every parent is comfortable with every topic,” Doughton said in a phone interview. “But you know, removing books because we’re not comfortable with the topic doesn’t stop the reality from existing.” 

Marull said her issue with the books is not that they address LGBTQ+ topics, but that they contain sexually explicit material which does not belong in schools. She said she does not think most members of the LGBTQ+ community want to normalize young children engaging in sexual conduct, and if that is a common experience with which students can identify, that is a problem which needs to be addressed. 

Libraries do not have infinite space, Marull said, pointing out that some books must be excluded so others can be included, which is a selection process that belongs to the district’s media specialists. But Marull said she began to lose faith in that filtration system when her high school-aged son brought home the three books she eventually flagged at GHS.

Marull’s confidence in the system took another hit when she looked to her right at Terwilliger Elementary School’s back to school day and saw “A is for Activist” by Innosanto Nagara. She flipped through the book and saw decontextualized slogans, including a final page that said, “Z is for Zapatista of course,” referring to a Mexican anarchist group. 

Marull said that if the book had used Republican slogans, such as “M is for MAGA,” it likely never would have been in the school library. She filled out another form for “A is for Activist” and followed up this week with a request to reevaluate “13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher, another high school library material that she flagged for sexual material. 

Marull said she is not on a crusade, and she has no intention of flagging every book she could take issue with. But she said school library materials should be audited, and if the current system is allowing sexually explicit material into school libraries, then parental auditing is necessary. 

Both Marull and Doughton said they believe banning books is bad. Doughton’s main concern is broader than the book “Beyond Magenta.” She said she worries the new state law, if applied a certain way, could lead to the removal of Shakespeare and other great works of literature, if a parent chose to submit a form. 

ACPS’s removal of “Beyond Magenta” only removes it from school libraries. The book is still available through retail options, and four Alachua County Library District branches have copies available, according to the district’s online catalog.