Staff Reports
Former President Barack Obama found himself in hot water this week as he defended sexually explicit books in school libraries. The Blaze reported that Obama took issue with people challenging these books, claiming that they shaped his own life and offered diverse perspectives.
Obama Defends Sexually Explicit Books for Children in Open Letter to Librarians https://t.co/VUTdUIsV8p
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 19, 2023
Conservative Twitter users quickly fired back, sharing screenshots from some of the books that have sparked controversy. One of these books is “Gender Queer,” which apparently features graphic depictions of gay sex. Film director Robby Starbuck called out Obama, challenging him to read the book and defend making it available to kids. Starbuck went on to predict that Obama would never do it because he knows normal people would be disgusted by such explicit content being pushed onto children.
When they accuse us of “banning books” they’re referring to graphic books containing pornographic content offered to kids in schools across the country.
For some reason, they never show examples from the books 🤔
Why does Obama want your kids to read porn like this in school? https://t.co/bTScYwTAKM pic.twitter.com/p2jzqXK0XY
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 17, 2023
Barack Obama has finally come out as gay. At least that must be what he's saying, because he says that the books that are being challenged in schools are the ones that shaped his life…but the only books that anyone on the right is challenging are pornographic books about gay… pic.twitter.com/9Kf0zqek6M
— The Matt Walsh Show (@MattWalshShow) July 18, 2023
Thank you @BarackObama for making it clear that you support sexually explicit books for kids. https://t.co/C3lYOhgop9
— The Based Librarian (@BasedLibrarian) July 17, 2023
Barack,
If you’ll sit down and read Gender Queer, then defend making it available to kids, I’ll do you the favor of running ads all over the country to let people know. You’ll never do it because you know it would disgust normal people that your party wants kids to read it. https://t.co/YK74GMo2yk
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) July 17, 2023
Tell us more about how books like “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” shaped your life. https://t.co/ItmXa0X2eR
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) July 18, 2023
When they say that books are being "banned" in schools by conservatives, they are talking about sexually explicit materials inappropriate for kids.
And they either completely support kids looking at porn or have no idea what books they are even defending. https://t.co/9GMnmCqK1w
— 1776 Project PAC (@1776ProjectPac) July 17, 2023
To add fuel to the fire, the Libs of TikTok chimed in, noting that those defending these books conveniently fail to show examples from them. They questioned why Obama would want children to read pornographic material in school. A valid point indeed!
The parents’ rights group, Courage Is A Habit, also entered the discussion, highlighting the hypocrisy of the situation. They reminded everyone what “book banning” truly means when pointing out Obama’s stance. The group doubted that Obama and his wife, Michelle, would have approved such material being read to their own daughters when they were in middle school. It seems Obama’s defense of sexually explicit books in school libraries doesn’t align with his own parenting choices.
Critics also accused Obama and his fellow Democrats of protecting porn while simultaneously silencing their opponents. The Being Libertarian Substack’s Twitter account brought attention to the Democrats’ hypocrisy on freedom of speech. They found it ironic that Obama was now invoking the First Amendment when his government had been censoring anyone questioning the official narrative on COVID for the past three years.
It seems like the former president may have dug a hole for himself with this defense of sexually explicit books. While diversity of perspectives is important, subjecting children to explicit and inappropriate content isn’t the answer. Maybe Obama should take a step back and reconsider his stance on what materials are suitable for young minds.
