'Gender Queer' To Remain On Library Shelves In Carver County, Board Rules

CARVER COUNTY — The controversial memoir “Gender Queer” will remain on library shelves in Carver County after the county library board voted unanimously to keep it in circulation following one resident’s objections, according to reports.

The vote Tuesday came after dozens spoke in support of keeping Maia Kobabe’s coming out story, presented as a graphic novel, in the library system, according to MPR News. The book was listed by the American Library Association as the most-challeged title of 2022.

"If you ban this book, you've sent a message to the LGBTQ+ people in Carver County that they are lesser," resident Ellie Krug said, according to KMSP.

The book was challenged by Erin Busse, who asked the library system in July to remove it, a request that was denied by the library’s director, who noted the memoir is kept in the adult nonfiction section, KMSP reported, leading Busse to take her fight to the board.

“It’s up to the parents to decide what their kids read,” board President Charles Teh said, according to MPR.

Busse argued keeping the book on shelves accessible to children was equivalent to sexual grooming, MPR reported. Her primary concern was illustrations of sex acts, according to KMSP. She also called the book “pornographic,” KARE 11 reported, although she admitted she had not read the graphic novel in its entirety.