Fairfax County high school students challenged censorship in their school libraries today at a student-led news conference at West Springfield High School in Virginia. Reporters from local TV stations and The Washington Post were in attendance.
The students, representing more than 100 of their classmates who have donated books and materials on the topic of homosexuality to their school libraries during the last year, have had their donations rejected; students believe this was due to the books’ content. With the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week as a backdrop, students and parents asked school officials to reconsider their rejection of the materials in the name of fairness, and offered officials a new donation of approximately 100 books.
Last year, students launched the True Tolerance project — sponsored by Focus on the Family — to counter the one-sided promotion of homosexuality in Fairfax County high school libraries, which offer more than 300 pro-gay books.
“This censorship is wrong. All we want is to have our views represented in a fair manner," said Liz Bognanno, a senior at West Springfield High School. "True tolerance means that we also have a seat at the table, and that students are free to decide what they believe on issues like homosexuality.”
True Tolerance students donated 85 books that approach homosexuality from a Christian perspective. Just one of the 13 schools where donations were made accepted the books; other librarians called the books “too Christian” or “too one-sided.”
