Latest news with #Blankets
Calgary Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Christian conservative group Action4Canada lobbied for review of books in Alberta schools
Article content The president of the Library Association of Alberta believes a Christian lobby group may have played a role in the province's targeting of 'sexually explicit' books found in school libraries. Article content Article content Laura Winton pointed to posts on the Action4Canada website, where the group pats itself on the back for its 'behind the scenes' lobbying of the Alberta government over books its members find objectionable. Article content Article content Winton said that Action4Canada is known to contact librarians across the province over books that the group finds offensive. Article content Article content Earlier this week, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the government would be consulting the public in order to create some standards when it comes to explicit material in school libraries. Four books were used as examples of materials that the ministry found objectionable for children: Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Craig Thompson's Blankets, and Flamer by Mike Curato. The books deal with 2SLGBTQIA+ themes, and have sexual imagery and language. Article content Tanya Gaw, Action4Canada's founder, said members of her team met with Nicolaides in the fall of 2024. This was confirmed by the education ministry, but both parties differ on the effectiveness of the meeting. Article content Gaw said Action4Canada sent binders to Nicolaides and Premier Danielle Smith which outlined the harms caused by the books in question, and also warned against the adoption of SOGI 123 by Alberta schools, Article content Article content SOGI 123 is a Canada-wide organization that makes programming and resources available to schools in the areas of inclusivity and positive acceptance of gender identities. Article content Article content 'We wanted to show the harm and risks that children are being put into,' said Gaw. 'When he (Nicolaides) saw the binder, he was genuinely shocked. We have the right to be concerned about what our children are being exposed to. We opened the minister's eyes to this.' Article content Nicolaides said his decision was influenced by what he'd been hearing from parents around the province. Article content 'No, we had been hearing from parents,' he said. 'I've been hearing from parents for quite some time, in fact, since I became minister, about items in school libraries that were of concern.' Article content When asked if Action4Canada's lobbying efforts had any impact at all, Nicolaides had this to say: 'I'm unsure. I mean, they had brought some materials to our attention so that that helped to get a better understanding of the nature of materials that was available in schools. But, you know, this is a topic that I've talked with many Albertans about.'
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Conservative activists gave Alberta government list of ‘inappropriate' books in school libraries
Social conservative activist groups provided Alberta government officials with lists of books now facing prohibition under new provincial content guidelines for school libraries, the IJF has learned. On May 26, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced the province is bringing in new rules for school libraries after investigations by his office found materials containing depictions of sexual acts, nudity, drug and alcohol use, profanity and other mature content on the shelves in Alberta K-12 schools. Alberta currently has voluntary guidelines for library books, but school boards follow their own processes for selecting age-appropriate and relevant materials for students. Because of the inconsistent standards between school divisions, 'sexually explicit material has made their way onto school library shelves,' Nicolaides said, and so public, separate, francophone, charter and independent schools will be required to follow province-wide guidelines starting in the 2025-26 school year. While the province said it identified multiple books with sexually explicit and inappropriate content, it has so far only named four coming-of-age graphic novels: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Blankets by Craig Thompson and Flamer by Mike Curato. Three of the four books focus on 2SLGBTQ+ characters and themes. Nicolaides told reporters in Calgary on Monday he was alerted to the issue by a group of parents who provided him with excerpts from 'many of these books and other materials' and showed him information suggesting they were available in different schools. However, members of the groups Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) and Action4Canada have since taken credit for supplying Nicolaides with the names of books they wanted removed from school libraries. In an email sent to followers, PCE celebrated the launch of Alberta's public consultation on 'sexually explicit' books in K-9 schools, telling members 'your efforts helped make this happen. 'PCE has worked with concerned parents for the past two years to expose this issue. Using a list prepared by Action4Canada, one of our dedicated volunteers submitted examples of graphic books to government officials—proof that titles like Gender Queer and Fun Home are available to children in Alberta schools. This consultation is a direct result of that work,' the email newsletter reads. PCE is an Alberta-based parental rights group that has previously taken issue with sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) education in schools , gay-straight alliance laws and other 2SLGBTQ-related policies. Action4Canada is a conservative Christian group with more than 60 chapters across Canada. The group promotes deeply conspiratorial beliefs, claiming the Canadian government and education system have been ' infiltrated by radical LGBTQ activists ' and that SOGI education and sexually explicit books are part of a ' global agenda to sexualize children, interfere with parental rights, eliminate the natural family and normalize pedophilia.' After Alberta announced its new library guidelines on Monday, Action4Canada posted on its website , thanking Nicolaides for meeting with their team and responding to their concerns about sexually explicit materials in Alberta schools. In the post, the group said its Calgary chapter has been communicating with government officials over several months, providing evidence of inappropriate books in schools and a 'comprehensive binder' that outlines supposed harms of SOGI education. Nicolaides told the IJF in an email he met with PCE and 'other concerned parents.' He did not respond to questions about whether he met separately with Action4Canada or when these meetings took place. Action4Canada has led campaigns to have sexual education and 2SLGBTQ+ themed books removed from public and school libraries in several provinces. A 36-page list of 'sexually explicit and pornographic books' available in Canadian libraries published by the group includes the novels Gender Queer and Fun Home. The list includes excerpts of text and images from the novels. Many of the same excerpts are found in a document the government of Alberta provided to reporters on Monday showing examples of sexually explicit and graphic content found in library materials. Corinne Mason, professor of women's and gender studies at Mount Royal University, said Nicolaides' initial claim that complaints about school library books had come from parents concerned about books their kids had access to in schools is a 'total misrepresentation of the facts.' 'It's a blatant lie from the minister about what's happened,' they said. Both Action4Canada and PCE are highly organized and well-funded lobby organizations, Mason said. And in the case of PCE, one with strong ties to the UCP government and Alberta's conservative movement. PCE executive director John Hilton-O'Brien was a founding board member and past president of the Wildrose Party of Alberta . During the 2022 UCP leadership race, Danielle Smith and other candidates participated in a forum on education hosted by PCE. Mason said that Action4Canada's campaigns have targeted 2SLGBTQ+ communities as ideological indoctrinators and dangerous to children in a time when the community is being violently harassed by hateful actors as pedophiles and groomers. And that it's problematic if the UCP government has been looking to them for frameworks around what is and isn't appropriate in schools. 'The fact that Parents for Choice in Education and Action4Canada, both of those organizations claim this as a win, I think that should be really, really concerning for folks like myself, who are very concerned about the influence of the parental rights movement generally in Alberta,' Mason said Nicolaides said in an email the actions being taken by the UCP government have nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ community. 'The fact that our actions of protecting young students from seeing porn, child molestation, self-harm and other sexual material in school libraries are being labelled as anti-LGBTQ is frankly irresponsible,' he said. Alberta Teachers' Association President Jason Schilling also expressed concern that the government was willing to meet with special interest groups about library materials, but not educators. 'Parents for Choice in Education and Action4Canada are special interest groups who frequently target the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Their claims that the provincial government is taking direction from them and not educators is questionable and alarming,' Schilling said. PCE told the IJF that its interest 'is in the reasonable rights of parents. Nobody who attacks those rights can expect to escape our criticism. Those claiming that we are discriminating against them are merely using the LGBTQ+ community to excuse their egregious actions.' Edmonton Public Schools, the Calgary Board of Education , and the Library Association of Alberta have all said the province hadn't contacted them about the issue of age-inappropriate books in libraries before Monday's announcement. All provinces provide general orientations about library content, but it remains the business of school boards to decide what books it uses, said James L. Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. Setting guidelines that block certain types of books from being in any school libraries is 'really unprecedented,' he said. 'What they're doing is censoring books,' Turk said. 'It's an absolute break from whatever any other province has done. It's following the lead of Florida and Texas and Utah and some American states that are moving in this direction.' The Florida Department of Education has removed over 700 books from K-12 school libraries. The agency maintains that no books have been banned in the state and the materials are 'sexually explicit' and don't belong in schools. The number of banned books in Florida spiked after a 2023 law was passed requiring school districts to have a policy for challenging materials that 'depicts or describes sexual conduct, is not suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, or is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used.' The four books named by Alberta's government have been frequently targeted by censors throughout North America. Gender Queer has the distinction of being the most banned book in the U.S. in 2021 and 2023 , and the graphic novel shared the title of the most banned book in U.S. schools in 2022 with Curato's Flamer. These novels have also received multiple literary awards and continue to be selected for library catalogues by educators because of their ability to grapple with difficult subjects young adults are coping with in their lives, Turk said. 'They do raise challenging issues, but young adults deal with challenging things in their lives, and nobody is forcing anyone to read any of these books when they're in school libraries,' he said. Turk said these books may have been found in K-9 schools in Alberta because for students in grade nine and up they are appropriate. He added that he would be surprised if they appeared in the library catalogues of elementary schools. Nicolaides told the IJF these materials were found in schools across the province, but said they are not naming the individual schools to ensure the safety and security of teachers, staff and students at these libraries. The only specific school that has been identified as part of the province's investigation is an Edmonton public school for students in grades 4-9. Garrett Koehler, press secretary to the minister of education, shared images on social media of Flamer and Gender Queer on the shelves of the school, commenting 'these problematic books were found in and around books like Goldilocks…' Gender Queer has been awarded the American Library Association's Alex Award, given to books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 to 18. The Government of Alberta's press release for its age-appropriate book guidelines policy states the recommended reading age for Flamer is 14 and up, or younger with adult guidance.
Calgary Herald
7 days ago
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Librarian groups worry censorship in Alberta government policies coming on book selection
Monday's announcement by the Alberta government that they will enact policies around the age-appropriateness of books in schools has library groups concerned that censorship of certain books could be the outcome. Article content Article content James Turk, the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the government might not ban titles outright, but it is possible their policies will force school libraries to not carry certain books. Article content Article content Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said Monday in a press conference that he met with parents who shared passages from graphic novels they found concerning. Article content Article content Four books of concern were named by the province in a media release, including Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe; Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel; Blankets, by Craig Thompson; and Flamer, by Mike Curato. Article content Nicolaides said the government can't ban books, but Turk said the policies could be restrictive enough to keep some books off the shelves. Article content 'One of the things that every censor always does is to say what they're doing is not about censorship,' he said. 'What he's doing is precisely about censorship. What he's doing is saying there are some school boards in Alberta that would allow books that we don't think are appropriate.' Article content Article content Turk said the majority of books being challenged in the last few years are on the topic of sexual identity, are LGBTQ+ positive or touch on sex education topics. Article content The Centre for Free Expression tracks challenges to books at Canadian libraries. In 2023, 197 book challenges were tracked, but Turk said the number is likely much higher. School libraries often have an informal process, he said, where a parent may come in and lodge a complaint to the principal and the decision to keep or get rid of the book is not recorded. Article content School boards and libraries already have robust guidelines for book selection, including what is appropriate for what age, Turk said, and are continuing to be developed. Article content This year, the Centre for Free Expression is turning its attention to school libraries and encouraging more reporting of book challenges. A working group on schools and intellectual freedom has been formed to provide resources to schools and school librarians.
Calgary Herald
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
‘Extremely graphic' sexual content found in books at K-9 schools, province says
Books found in some school libraries in Calgary and Edmonton had 'explicit sexual content,' said the provincial government, as it aims to crack-down on materials with inappropriate themes. Article content Article content The 'extremely graphic and age-inappropriate' content was found at some Kindergarten to Grade 9 schools and high schools across the Edmonton Public School Board and Calgary Board of Education, according to the province. Article content Article content Initial reports of the books came from concerned parents last November, according to the provincial minister of education and childcare. Article content Article content 'I sat down with the parents, and they proceeded to show me files with multiple examples of what I would describe as being incredibly inappropriate passages,' said minister Demetrios Nicolaides in an interview Saturday. Article content 'I was completely shocked and taken aback,' he said. Article content Most concerning of all were 'extremely inappropriate' graphic images that display sexual acts, said Nicolaides. Article content Four graphic novels were named in a media release from the province: Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe; Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel; Blankets, by Craig Thompson; and Flamer, by Mike Curato. Article content However, those were just the 'most severe' cases, according to Nicolaides. Article content 'We didn't have an opportunity to look at the entire list. There (were) maybe dozens and dozens of books that were flagged by some of these parents,' he said. Article content Article content Some of the books contained mature content such as sexual activities, sexual nudity, nudity, molestation, profanity, suicidal commentary, alcohol use, drug use, derogatory terms, violence and self-harm. Article content Several excerpts from each graphic novel were shown in a news release from the province, depicting the above themes in different instances. Article content It's unclear how long the books have been in some schools. In a direct message, Nicolaides' press secretary confirmed the books were found in a total of 57 schools across Calgary and Edmonton, but did not disclose which ones. Article content 'I cannot think of any rationale or reason why they should be available in a school for a child,' said Nicolaides. 'The biggest concern of mine, is that many of these books exist in elementary schools.'
The Guardian
08-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson review – a genre-defying graphic novel about class, religion and globalisation
G enre is a slippery beast at the best of times, but Craig Thompson's new book is particularly hard to categorise. It's a memoir, graphic novel, and piece of social commentary, all based around ginseng. Living in the dirt poor (literally) midwest in the 1980s, his family farmed the plant, with its weird humanoid roots, and Thompson and his brother spent their youths caked in mud and chemicals plucking them from the ground for a dollar an hour. Ginseng is an essential ingredient in many Chinese medicines, as well as a range of health gimmicks, and for various reasons, Wisconsin has been an unlikely centre of global production for several centuries. Originally published in 12 issues from 2019 to 2024, Ginseng Roots is epic in length and breadth, but simultaneously pleasingly narrow in scope. It plays out in multiple strands that examine both the minutiae of a man's life and the cultural history of a difficult-to-grow crop (once harvested, it cannot be grown in the same field again). Thompson's reputation is built on his first memoir, Blankets, published in 2003, in which he drew the story of his coming of age, including the rejection of his Baptist parents' strict beliefs. It was one of those rare comics that broke into the mainstream, and was deservedly heaped with praise. In 2024, Blankets was one of 13 books banned from libraries in the state of Utah, the reasons presumably being that it contains depictions of masturbation, abusive parents, and the repudiation of evangelical Christianity. Some of those themes recur in Ginseng Roots. We hear about why his parents were in this strange business of small-holding ginseng agriculture in the first place, and again about their conservative Christianity. As his father dies, Thompson reflects on how he depicted them in Blankets. But he has a disarming and uncanny knack for switching gear without you noticing. Perhaps this is something peculiar to the medium of the graphic novel, where the art keeps a sense of an overarching narrative despite a change in view. All of a gentle sudden, we are deep in the 18th-century world of trade between Iroquois and Chinese merchants, paddle steamers and canoes, learning about this untold history of American globalisation that pivots on ginseng. In 1784, the first ship to set sail from the newly independent America for China carried 30 tons of American ginseng bound for the herbal medicine market, the cargo's value 250 times its weight in silver. Then we are back on the farm, immersed in the conundrums of midwest politics: farmers being subsumed by corporations, swamped by pesticides, but seemingly happily committed to an apocalyptic theology that will deliver them the promised land when the rapture comes. In this sense, Ginseng Roots is one version of the broader American story. This odd plant, with mystical properties (or, to put it another way, its unregulated and scientifically questionable active ingredient) took root in the midwest, became big business through export, and left behind disgruntled small-holders, who eventually got replaced by immigrant workers. Class and poverty play major roles, and Thompson himself is full of working-class doubt, about his talent and his choice of career a long way from home. It's all suffused with a love of comics: the dollar an hour that Thompson and his brother earned as children doing back-breaking, knee-crippling work was always spent on superhero and Star Wars comics. The normalisation of graphic literature in mainstream culture is enormously rewarding for those of us for whom faded monochrome dot-printed words and pictures were how we learned stories. 'Comics helped me survive my childhood,' he tells his brother later in life, their younger selves looking on as they go through old boxes of ewoks and X-Men. 'But what will help me survive my adulthood?' Memoirs are meant to have an elegiac quality to them, and this one, despite being about root vegetables, is soulful, funny, and exquisitely drawn. Like Blankets, Ginseng Roots is a modern classic: moving, and weirdly educational – a gentle yet perspicacious story of global politics, capitalism, religion, and life at the edges of all of those forces. Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson is published by Faber (£25). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply
