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WINDY CITY TIMES
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Illinois middle-school teacher loses job for promoting 'This Book Is Gay'
2023-05-18
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This article shared 3116 times since Thu May 18, 2023
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Making This Book Is Gay available to her eighth-grade students resulted in Illinois teacher Sarah Bonner being reported to police—and eventually losing her job, according to an item from The Advocate.
According to Today.com, Bonner (who had been teaching for two decades) included the book in what she called a "book-tasting" in her middle-school English classroom in the central Illinois town of Heyworth in March.
This Book Is Gay, by trans British writer Juno Dawson, was optional (not assigned) reading. It is written for teens and covers coming out, stereotypes, flirting, safer sex and more.
After there was backlash, Bonner was placed on administrative leave and a substitute was hired, according to WGLT. After a public-comment session at a school-board meeting, the board accepted Bonner's resignation. Parents who were upset about This Book Is Gay were sending "a message to the LGBTQ+ community in my room and in my district that they're 'less than,'" Bonner told Today.com .
Some of Dawson's other works include Mind Your Head, Margot & Me, and The Gender Games. |
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This article shared 3116 times since Thu May 18, 2023
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