Parents turn out in force to clash and support Cherry Creek in shadow of allegations of library ‘porn’

AURORA | Hundreds of people turned out Monday to a Cherry Creek School board meeting, insisting that critics of controversial library materials are spreading misinformation about books associated with sexuality. 

“When we start letting parents walk into our libraries to pull books off the shelf and then declare them as pornographic or unacceptable in some way, then we no longer have intellectual freedom in schools,” parent Heidi Parish told school board members and the audience. 

Of the 200-300 people estimated at the school board meeting, held at Prairie Middle School, the vast majority came to support the school district’s policies regarding potentially sensitive materials in public school libraries.

The turnout was in response to recent criticism from local and national activists protesting what they say are inappropriate and even pornographic books in school libraries. The criticism has focused almost exclusively on materials broaching the subject of LGBTQ sexuality.

Lori Gimelshteyn, executive director of Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, said that her organization has not done anything that was anti-LGBTQ and that they support all students. She also questioned why it was considered hateful to the LGBTQ community to protect them from porn.

On Monday, however, most parents stood behind school district officials in saying that allegations by Gimelshteyn and other critics are false, and that her group and others are spreading politicized misinformation about not just the materials, but who in schools has access to them.

The public battle comes just weeks after Superintendent Chris Smith told families that school employees received hundreds of emails, phone calls and voice messages from parents who had been misled and misinformed by activists about sexually explicit books in elementary school libraries. The controversy eventually led to a bomb threat which was eventually discredited.  The Arapahoe Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the case. 

The threat to Cherry Creek came after Libs of Tiktok, which the Anti-Defamation League defines as “a popular anti-LGBTQ” social media account, published a blog post encouraging their followers to contact Cherry Creek about the alleged sexually explicit books. CPAN made a Facebook post echoing Libs of TikTok’s sentiments. 

This week, CPAN and Turning Point USA rallied on local social media and encouraged community members to turn out to the Cherry Creek school board meeting Monday. 

The Anti-Defamation League describes Turning Point as a conservative nonprofit group, whose founder promotes Christian nationalism, and the group attracts white nationalists.

CPAN is a statewide organization that advocates for “rigorous, non-political, safe and fulfilling educational experience for all students.” The group, however, has collaborated with conservative organizations such as Libs of TikTok, an organization that encouraged people to contact Cherry Creek about sexually explicit books. 

Outside of the school where the school board meeting was held, a few dozen supporters of CPAN, Turning Point and Colorado Log Cabin Republicans — representing politically conservative gay and lesbian voters —  gathered in front of a pickup truck where an American flag sat in the truck bed.  

Many dozens more stood on the sidewalk in front of the school carrying rainbow umbrellas and signs that read, “just one accepting adult can save a queer person’s life…protect trans kids” and “protect queer kids.”

Much of the controversy surrounds books focusing on sexual orientation and gender, some popular among adolescents.

Critics have labeled some of the materials as pornographic, which local school officials, national experts in library sciences and a variety of schools of academics staunchly deny.

Drew Paterson erroneously claimed the memoir “Gender Queer,” written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe, depicts a child performing oral sex on an adult.

The book is a “graphic novel,” using drawn caricatures in the style of a comic book.  While Kobabe does include a scene addressing oral sex, it is between two consenting adults, depicting inanimate objects, not genitalia.

Critics of the organization calling out the materials say the activist groups not only spread disinformation about the character, content and locations of the books, but are anti-LGBTQ in their tactics.

Gimelshteyn said that the book “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, which critics claim is sexually explicit, was available in elementary schools. 

The Sentinel has previously reported that the school district does not carry Kobabe’s or Johnson’s book in local elementary schools. They are, however, available in some middle school and high school libraries, which carry a variety of books about biology, psychology, human sexuality and development.

Despite the critics’ allegations, the majority of people who turned out for the meeting expressed support for district leaders, teachers, inclusion in school library books and the LGBTQ community. 

Chad Brown, a parent and teacher at Prairie Middle School, praised the school’s policies on diversity and inclusion. 

“As we have moved forward as a country, and now as a community at (Cherry Creek), there are those against these values. They are against the celebration of differences,” he said. 

One speaker recalled recent news about a California woman killed for flying a pride flag, and that she was told to take hers down. She did not say who made the demand. She also said a recent attack at the Douglas County Pride event was traumatic, and the “hateful group showing up at board meetings is terrifying.”

“Superintendent Smith, please continue your hard line against hate,” she said. “There is no middle ground here. Our children’s lives are at stake.” 

With elections on the horizon, and ballots scheduled to be sent out to voters next week, many also expressed support for Director Anne Egan and Angela Garland, who are running for re-election. They are competing against challengers Steve McKenna and Scott Graves respectively. 

Director Janice McDonald reached term limits. Ruthie Knowles is the sole candidate to fill the vacant seat.