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Sarah Bonner, a 42-year-old Hayworth Junior High School teacher, had the police called on her by a parent for her book choice for "Reading Monday." One of the books that Sarah chose for the class was This Book is Gay. Bonner revealed that a police report was filed against her for child endangerment, adding that she was suspended.
Sarah Bonner said that she wanted to be supportive of her students as many of them have a hard time getting used to diverse environments after graduating. Bonner claimed that after listening to her students’ interests and questions, she decided to include several books with LGBTQ, Indigenous, and African-American characters.
It was also revealed that over half of the books banned during the 2021-2022 school years were based on LGBTQ themes. A 2020 National Literacy Trust research report claimed that children aged between nine and 18 years, must read books from different backgrounds.
Police report filed against a Hayworth Junior High School teacher who offered to read LGBTQ-themed books to students
Sarah Bonner held a "book tasting" session for her students on March 13, 2023, where they would be given books to read. The books that she offered to read to the students reportedly contained one titled The Book is Gay by Juno Dawson. It has been a bestselling book and revolves around those coming out as gay, lesbian, trans, or bis*xual.
The 42-year-old teacher, who has nearly two decades of experience, said that she wanted to give her students a "smattering of fiction and non-fiction to choose from." She said that this would be done on a day that they refer to as "Reading Monday," where the class reads and celebrates the book.
She added that by Wednesday, she received a notice that parents had found pictures from the book that the kids had taken in class. The teacher said that within two days, by Friday, she was told that there was a police report filed against her for child endangerment.
The Book is Gay has a comedic take on several topics including early s*xual urges, dating, flirting, and safe s*xual practices, among other things. It also discusses the cultural stigma that the LGBTQ community often faces.
A meeting was organized on Thursday to talk about the current matter, and about 85 people attended. Karen Maharas, one of the concerned parents said that they understand that the topics of s*xual education and gender identity can be seen as parents should cover at home. However, the parent added that not all parents are willing or even able to have such conversations. They noted:
“And if parents can’t or won’t talk with their children, then who will?”
News outlets reached out to the local police chief who confirmed the report against the Hayworth Junior High School teacher. However, the chief didn’t comment much on the matter.
Bonner said she noticed that after graduating, a lot of her students who went to college found it difficult to acclimate to the diverse situations. The mother of a ten-year-old even stated that she wanted to do something to support the students and that until now, she was supported by the communities that she taught with.
Bonner noted:
"The signs (of a potential issue) started at the beginning of this school year… and this heightened culture war that’s continuing to build nationwide."
Former Hayworth students spoke highly of Sarah Bonner
The Hayworth Junior High School teacher won a National Council of Teachers of English award in 2019 for “Outstanding Middle-Level Educator.”
Bryanna Tidmarsh, a doctoral student, defended the Hayworth Junior High School teacher. She claimed that LGBTQ students can benefit when they read these books and that they can relate to them. Tidmarsh also believed that heteros*xual s*x education while ignoring other identities can be considered to be “institutionalized homophobia.”
Clinical social worker Krista Reichart-Lunny, who is also a parent of a student at Hayworth Junior High, said:
“I just wanted to demonstrate that the content (critics of the book) was talking about, that the ‘explicit’ nature of it was not because of what it showed, the actual pictures… it was focusing on the fact that the book was referencing g*y orientation.”
Lunny mentioned that students had come across several other books that featured similar content as The Book is Gay, but it was from a heteros*xual context only. Bryanna Tidmarsh wasn’t the only one to state that LGBTQ materials are treated differently. Two former students of Hayworth Junior High School spoke highly of Bonner.
One of them, Allison Huebner said that as a queer student at the school, they know that a lot of their peers are scared to go to their parents and tell them their true identities. Allison added that they also know that while some parents may think that their kids are "completely comfortable and happy," a few of them have difficult lives, and it's tough to tell other parents that.
Netizens, however, have flooded social media platforms criticizing Bonner's point of view and decision of offering certain kinds of materials to young children.
The Hayworth teacher mentioned how things have changed for students over time. According to PEN America, over 1,600 books were banned in the 2021-2022 school year. Most of these books were themed around LGBTQ issues.
