Gender Queer a book rated for 18+ has found its way into the public school library in Ballston Spa High School.
Battle with Ballston Spa School District:
Ask yourself two questions. (I have one more question I’ll ask at the end of the article.)
1. Should Child Pornography be allowed in our Public School System?
2. Should Pornography be allowed in our Public School System?
It is my hope that by the time you read this article, you will have a full understanding of why there’s such an outrage over this book, Gender Queer, being allowed in our school system.
It will educate you, it will open your eyes and no matter which side you fall on regarding this topic, you’ll have made a sound decision because you took the time to read the facts.
My name is Jason Savaria and I’m currently neck deep in a solo mission to get the book named “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe removed from Ballston Spa Central School District.
It is my opinion that this book should be removed from not only our local school district but yours as well. As you will see from the facts below (which include current written law) that this book not only violates current laws set in place to protect our children, but on a moral level is simply inappropriate for children.
You cannot walk into an Adult Toy shop unless you’re 18+ years old in New York, yet this book shows pictures of Dildos and Vibrators. In both instances, the illustrations show how to use them!
You cannot walk into a CVS in New York and grab a Playboy from the magazine rack unless you’re 18+ years old, yet in this book you will find illustrations of an individual giving a blow job and the other individual receiving the blow job.
You cannot go into an Adult Sex shop in New York and purchase video porn, yet in this book you can see illustrations of 2 men engaging each other in sexual activity (Page 61 photo, then on page 65 the author states “But my sexual fantasies involved two male partners.”)
It doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to decipher the author is referencing the illustration of 2 naked males groping each other 4 pages prior!
The Law clearly states that it does not matter if the image is of a real child or a cartoon, see below.
What you are about to read is my synopsis of the actual book. You will read direct quotes taken from the pages and see illustrations taken directly from the book. It is my sole intent on providing you facts. I hope you take the time to read them.
Most of the images and quotes you will see and read are explicit and should not be viewed by anyone under the age of 18 years old. That age rating is from Amazon.com and I share in that rating 100%.
Fact #1. Yes, even Amazon labels this book as intended for viewers 18 years and older.
Fact #2. My Facebook account was restricted for posting the illustrations in this book. Facebook deems them as “inappropriate sexual content”.
Fact #3. I spoke at the Ballston Spa Board of Education meeting on 4/13/2022. I spoke direct quotes from the book “Gender Queer”. The words were so explicit that the Board would not allow the meeting to be posted without “Special Permissions” from the School District.
The meeting is still not available on YouTube. When questioned as to why it wasn’t posted on YouTube, the Ballston Spa Records Access Officer/Assistant Superintendent for Business replied “While you were simply reading from materials, the Board did not believe that the verbiage was appropriate for wide distribution on a streaming platform that is available for viewing by any age level.
Hence, the recording was taken down and any re-posting will have the sound edited from that portion of the video. This is the District’s choice and is consistent with the law.”
“Public display of offensive sexual material”. States.. “A person is guilty of public display of offensive sexual material when, with knowledge of its character and content, he displays or permits to be displayed in or on any window, showcase, newsstand, display rack, wall, door, billboard, display board, viewing screen, moving picture screen, marquee or similar place, in such manner that the display is easily visible from or in any: public street, sidewalk or thoroughfare; transportation facility; or any place accessible to members of the public without fee or other limit or condition of admission such as a minimum age requirement and including but not limited to schools, places of amusement, parks and playgrounds but excluding rooms or apartments designed for actual residence; any pictorial, three-dimensional or other visual representation of a person or a portion of the human body that predominately appeals to prurient interest in sex, and that: (a) depicts nudity, or actual or simulated sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse; or (b) depicts or appears to depict nudity, or actual or simulated sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse, with the area of the male or female subject’s unclothed or apparently unclothed genitals, pubic area or buttocks, or of the female subject’s unclothed or apparently unclothed breast, obscured by a covering or mark placed or printed on or in front of the material displayed, or obscured or altered in any other manner. Public display of offensive sexual material is a Class A Misdemeanor."
Fact #5. The PROTECT Act of 2003, signed into law by President Bush in April of 2003. Page 32, section 1466A.
“Obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children” “Section (b) ADDITIONAL OFFENSES.—Any person who, in a circumstance described in subsection (d), knowingly possesses a visual depiction of any kind, including a DRAWING, CARTOON, SCULPTURE, or PAINTING, that—(1)(A) depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and (B) is obscene; or (2)(A) depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in graphic beastiality, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex; and (B) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Fact#6. I’ve escalated my claim to have this book removed from the BSCSD.
The Superintendent, Kenneth Slentz, has 30 days (from May 4th) to form a committee to decide the outcome.
The committee will be comprised of:
(1) 1 Member of the Administrative staff
(2) 1 Member of the Shared Decision Making Committees (parent)
(3) 1 Member of the Teaching staff
(4) 1 Member of the Academic Freedom Committee
(5) 1 School Library Media Specialist (This person is in charge of onboarding said book; conflict?!)
(6) 1 Member of the Secondary Student Body
Gender Queer a Synopsis
Page 4. Story begins with character stating in 2013 they were age 24.
Page 11. Story backtracks to year 1992 when the character was 3 1/2 years old and the sister was 1 years old.
Page 13. Story shows illustrations of (2) 3 year old's urinating in the grass, full rear nudity with images of active urination.
Page 15. Story jumps to character at age 6.
Page 17. Author states character is in First Grade.
Page 20-21. Story jumps to character in Third grade. Approximate age 8 or 9 years old. Author describes the field trip taken with the class in which the character is shirtless. Top half frontal nudity of female character.
Page 22. Author continues with field trip scene where female character is top half full frontal nudity.
Page 25. Story jumps to character in Fifth Grade. Approximate age is 10 or 11 years old.
Page 27. Author states the character is 11 years old.
Page 31-37. Illustrations of character in bloody scenes from getting her first period. Feelings of depression, anger, denial, and fear are described.
Page 38. Character is in the Seventh Grade. Approximate age is 13 years old. Character describes daydreaming about Breast Cancer and getting the disease would give her the perfect excuse to have her breasts removed. Justifies the thought with expressed fear
Page 39. Character is stated to be age 13 years old.
Page 40. Author jumps ahead 10 years putting character at age 23 years old then backtracks to character as a Junior, approximate age 15 years old.
Page 45. Author states the character is in 8th grade and begins describing life in 8th grade. Approximate age of character is 13-14 years old.
Page 46. Author jumps character to Freshman Year of High School. Approximate age of character is 14 years old.
Page 50. Character states a love for the graphic novels named "Strangers in Paradise" written by Terry Moore.
Page 55. Author states character is in the Ninth Grade. Approximate age of character is 14 years old.
Page 60. Character is believed to still be in the Ninth Grade, approximate age is 14 years old. Character is describing a time when she was age 11 or 12 years old and "Fantasizing about having a penis". It is shown thru a graphic the character holding a folded handful of grass between her legs in the shape of a penis, depicting a penis between her legs.
Page 61. Character is still believed to be in Ninth Grade, approximate age is 14 years old. Character describes her "Standard Method of Masturbation was stuffing a sock into the front of my pants and manipulating The Bulge"
"This would evolve into hip-thrusting while thinking of my latest gay ship" "Memorably, I got off once while driving just by rubbing the front of my jeans and imagining getting a Blow Job".
Images on this page depict a 14 year old's hand grabbing the penis or bulge area of the body. The second photo on this page depicts (2) 14 year old's engaged in sexual activity, fully nude with the one 14 year old on top with their bare butt showing. The 14 year old's are engaged in kissing as well.
Page 62-63. Characters are visually young, mid teenage by the illustrations and by the age stated on the previous page. Character with red hair asks other character
"It really never occurred to you to put something into your vagina, not even a finger?" Character responds "It really didn't." Character with red hair asks "So you've never tasted yourself?" Character responds "What? NO! EW!" Character asks character with red hair "WAIT, you have?"
Character with red hair responds "HAHA, of course! You should try." The picture following this conversation includes the character staring at their finger with a white substance on the tip of the finger, caption reading "Vagina Slime" with an arrow pointing to the white substance on the tip of the characters finger. The following page being page 63, the character states "I have an extremely low sex drive compared to pretty much all of my friends. As a teen I got bored of masturbation."
Page 65. Author states “But my sexual fantasies involved two male partners.”
Page 75. The author states “Including the FAKE series by Sanami Matoh & The Last Herals Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. Both of which include very tame GAY SEX SCENES.”
The character depicted in the illustration is reading a book and contained inside the quote bubble it reads “I can still recall a specific physical sensation I got from reading these scenes.“
Page 81. Character states in a quote bubble “If only I could get rid of my breasts this quickly.”
Page 84. Character is in Tenth grade and states in a quote bubble “Damn still there.” Character is referring to her breasts with a depressed facial expression.
Page 93. Character has just ended the Junior year in High School. Approximate age is 16-17 years old. The character states “I then dreamed about having a massive painful boner that lasted all day.” The picture associated with this text depicts a 16-17 year old Childs midsection, wearing shorts with their penis fully erect.
Page 103. Character is in the Sophomore year of College. In a quote bubble, a young looking blonde female states “Haha, I know. I wonder if we got her drunk again if she’d tell us the whole story?”
Page 110. Character is writing a message to another character. The message is “Hey, I’m sorry I ran away from you earlier. I’m thinking of killing Rae next time I see her. You want in?”
Page 116. The header at the top of the page reads “Interest in Erotic Gay Fiction has been so prevalent in my friendships, one could mistake it for a prerequisite. The caption below this header reads “High School” The illustration in the center of the page shows five individuals talking about a show episode in which one character states “You mean eye sex.”
Page 117. Page depicts two individuals talking in a car “I’m not really into slash or gay comics…” one individual says. The other responds “WHAT? REALLY?!?” The individual responds “I thought gay porn was universal!”
The mid page header reads “Later she described herself as Hetero-flexible and tried to explain why she liked lesbian porn more than gay porn. The character goes on to state “I think it’s because-I just don’t know how to assign a sensation to a body part that I don’t have.” The other character is seen laying in bed and on the page it states “I assign sensation to a body part I don’t have all the time. Sometimes I can almost feel where it would be resting against my thigh.”
Page 124. Illustrations show a nude woman.
Page 126. Captions state “Why do I get so turned on by Gay Sex?” “Is there a physical attribute of my body, like an overlarge clitoris or something, that makes me feel like I should have a penis?”
Page 135. Header reads “Alison Bechdel writes in FUN HOME about discovering masturbation soon after her first period (page 170)” Captions on the page continue stating “I didn’t know then that there was a word for the oddly gratifying motion of rocking back and forth in my chair as I drew at my desk.” “I discovered it at around the same age, followed by the further realization that my ability to become aroused was governed by a strict law of diminishing returns.”
The illustration on the page depicts two men with their penises erect and one man with the others penis in his hands. The caption goes on to state “The more I had to interact with my genitals the less likely I was to reach a point of any satisfaction. The best fantasy was one that didn’t require any touch at all.”
Page 138. Page reads the following, also page shows an illustration of a sex toy called “A $10 Bullet Vibrator” “In 2013, I discovered Erika Moen’s web comic from November of that year she talks about the first sex toy she ever purchased. A $10 bullet vibrator.
Moen writes, My first orgasm is still one of my most vivid, lovely experiences. It was the first time I ever loved my body.” The character is illustrated as staring at a computer. In the quote bubble it reads “The way she talks about orgasms makes me wonder if actually…I’ve…never…had one…?”
Page 139. Page states the following “A few weeks later I bought one. The illustration at the top of the page depicts a storefront named “Pleasure & Heart” with women's lingerie in the storefront windows. The page goes on to state “I remember leaning in my bedroom doorway, imagining how good this vibrator was going to make me feel.
I GOT OFF by pressing the front of my jeans, the unopened box in my hand. The illustration depicts the character holding the box that the vibrator is in in one hand and their other hand is pressed against their crotch area. The page continues to state “But when the time came to actually turn it on…” “I’ll try the lowest setting? That’s what Erika used in the comic…” Illustration depicts the character holding the vibrator in one hand with the caption above it “BZZZ”.
Page 140. Character is illustrated using the vibrator, no nudity is seen but the vibrators use on the characters vagina is intended through the illustrations. Page goes on to state “I guess I just press it down there…” “ERRRRRR” “This feels very weird.” “I don’t think I like this.” OK NOPE.” “Nope. Nope. Nope.” “Turn off, turn off!” “Haha, well.” “That was not for me.”
Page 141. Character is depicted talking to her friend Phoebe. Page header states “A little while later” “Hey Phoebe…” “What’s up?” “So I bought this vibrator-“ “Ooo!” “Well, it’s not that exciting because I don’t really like it.” “I only used it once, for, like, a minute, then I washed it super well. I’m not going to use it again but I’d feel bad throwing it away…” “Do you want it?” “Haha, sure.”
Page 166. Header reads, “Fast Forward: We’ve been dating for two months. We’ve made out, we’ve had sex, we’ve moved on to sexting at work.” Story continues with character in a Library texting another character. ‘I got a new strap-on harness today. I can’t wait to put it on you it will fit my favorite dildo perfectly. You are going to look SO HOT. I can’t wait to have your cock in my mouth – I’m going to give you the blow job of your life, then I want you inside me.” Character responds, “HOLY SHIT. This is the most turned on I’ve ever been in my life. I am DYING.”
Page 167. Caption reads “This is the visual I’d been picturing…” The illustration is of two people. One person is seen from the waist up with no shirt on and their pants unbuttoned. This characters penis is showing and the other character has it in their mouth depicting the act of a blow job. Story gores on to read, “But I can’t feel anything.
This was MUCH HOTTER when it was only in my imagination.” The illustration is of two people. One character is wearing a strap on harness with a dildo attached to it and the other character is shirtless with their mouth on the dildo depicting the act of getting a blow job. Character receiving the blow job states “Hey Z... Lets try something else.” Character responds “Of course”
Page 168. Illustration shows two people in bed. Caption bubbles state “Everything we did today was a good experience. But now that I’ve had sex a few times, I’m not sure I really need anymore? Trying to get off in front of someone is kind of weird. I think when I do orgasm, it’s not because of my body but in spite of it.”
Page 174. Caption reads, “Amila is the first person I’ve watched take Testosterone.” Illustration shows a person with a syringe, injecting something into their stomach.
Page 175. Quote bubble reads “If T magically makes you grow a dick though.” Character responds “I’ll let you know!”
Summary:
I’m asking for your help, please. No matter how you feel, politics aside, child porn is child porn.
We cannot allow our children to be desensitized to graphic and explicit images and content portraying young kids. We cannot start down a dangerous path of our youth thinking this is “normal”. Our children are sacred, our grandchildren are sacred.
We must stop this.
As promised, my last question.
1. How do you feel right now after reading this, knowing this book is in our school district library for our children to view at any time?
You can send an email describing how you feel right now to our Superintendent Kenneth Slentz at kslentz@bscsd.org
My only request is that you use a professional and respectful tone in your writing to him. The last thing we need is more negative energy.
Be Courageous, Be Proud, Be Moral.
Comments