Morris Librarian Defamed Over LGBTQ Books, Lawsuit Says

ROXBURY, NJ — A librarian in Morris County filed a lawsuit against several township residents, claiming they defamed her by attacking her for supporting the inclusion of books about the LGBTQ community.

The Roxbury High School librarian, Roxana Russo Caivano, claimed in the lawsuit that a public campaign against her began after an LGBTQ book was challenged by community members.

The alleged campaign is mainly centered on the graphic novel "Gender Queer: A Memoir," as well as other books in the library that some community members have called sexually explicit.

The book is a coming-of-age story about the author, Maia Kobabe, life and their exploration of gender identity and sexuality, ultimately identifying as being outside the gender binary.

Recently, "Gender Queer: A Memoir," was challenged by the community, and after careful consideration by Caivano, school administration and one anonymous parent, it was decided that the book should remain in the library with no restrictions.

Caivano filed the lawsuit last month, alleging that the residents had labeled her a "child predator" and accused her of "luring children with pornography."

The conspiracy to defame her character allegedly began in September 2022, when Thomas Seritis, one of the defendants named in the complaint, published on an online parent forum that Caivano included child pornography in the Roxbury High School library.

Seritis equated the books to "hard-core pornography and pornographers," the lawsuit states.

Caivano, a Roxbury native who has worked in the district for 15 years, has faced personal attacks as a result of these claims, according to her husband, Anthony, an attorney representing her in the case.

Along with other unnamed defendants who "conspired and/or engaged" in the campaign, the complaint names Seritis, Christina Scarbrough Balestriere, Kristen Cobo and Katrina Albo as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, Balestriere, Cobo and Albo spoke out at the March 6 Roxbury Board of Education meeting stating that Caivano had "engaged in luring children with sexually explicit materials," and that she had "endangered the welfare of children" due to the books found in her library.

The three defendants also attacked her credentials and employment status, the suit states.

On the virtual blog, SafeLibraries, which is operated by the non-party publisher Dan Kleinman, Balestriere published a note saying, "These are prominently displayed books and librarians are luring minors in with their enticing 'banned books' displays."

Roxbury Schools Superintendent Loretta Radulic did not immediately respond to Patch's request seeking comment.

If parents have concerns, Anthony Caivano told Patch that they should address them with the township board of education or other state officials.

"They should challenge the books in court, but they don't want to do that. Their strategy is to try to attack individuals because they think they're going to bear pressure on individuals to get their political ends," Caivano said.

The parents, who are represented by First Amendment lawyer Corinne Mullen, have responded with a letter demanding that the lawsuit be dismissed because it is frivolous.

"Parents should have the right to have a voice in whether their children should be exposed to sexualized content in the books chosen by public school employees," Mullen said in a statement. "This lawsuit inhibits open and robust debate on the issues as we as a nation must face on the appropriateness of content to which our children are exposed."

Other books that have been blasted by some community members include, "Let's Talk About It," "This Book is Gay," "Flamer," "Fun Home" and many others.

In the neighboring West Morris Regional High School District, parents also spoke out at the 2006 graphic memoir "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" being included in some 12th-grade English Literature classes.

The memoir focuses on issues such as sexual orientation, suicide, emotional abuse and complex family life.

A blog post on a local parents' union page drew several comments on the subject, and the work has recently been the subject of formal complaints, Superintendent Michael Ben-David said.

The graphic novel, which is currently taught in only a few of the district's 12th-grade English Literature classes, had previously been approved by the school district as a valuable resource for teachers to choose from.