Op-ed: Old Lyme Church Ministers ‘Stand Against Book Banning … Stand With Our Libraries, Librarians’ 

Editor’s Note: The following op-ed was submitted to us by the three ministers of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, namely Senior Minister Rev. Steven R. Jungkeit, Ph.D.; Senior Associate Minister Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager, and Associate Minister Rev. Carleen Gerber.

When students and guests walk into the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, they are greeted by these words, displayed on a bulletin board:

In Case No One Told You Today:
Hello
Good Morning
You Belong Here
You’re Doing Great
I Believe In You

Those words beautifully convey what parents and educators hope for all of our young people – that they understand that they are affirmed and supported, no matter who they are, no matter how they identify, no matter what others may say.

One could wish that the 135 signatories of a letter requesting that two books about gender and sexuality be banned by the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Public Library in Old Lyme had absorbed those words.  One might wish that, prior to adding their names to that letter, they had taken to heart a lesson that educators struggle to teach young people every single day – to affirm the well-being of those around them, even across differences.  In so doing, they have effectively said to those who identify as LGBTQ+, and especially to those who identify as trans in the Lyme and Old Lyme region: “You do NOT belong here.”  “You are NOT doing great.”  “We do NOT believe in you.”

Some background might help.  Earlier this spring, one of the town committees in Old Lyme circulated a letter stating that they wished to exercise greater “parental rights” over the shaping of school curriculums and the holdings of school and public libraries.  “Parental rights” sounds innocuous, but it is the phrase that has been used across the country in efforts to ban books from school and public libraries.  It was the name of the bill passed in Florida banning teachers from speaking about gender and sexuality issues in public schools (now infamously known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill).  And it is the phrase that has been used to roll back the civil and human rights of trans children and their parents in many parts of the country.  

Not surprisingly, the books targeted in Old Lyme have to do with gender and sexuality issues, including what it is to be trans (“Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being a Human” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan and “You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty and Other Things” by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth).  While people of good faith can and will differ about the contents of the books in question, including when, how, and if to introduce conversations about those contents to young people, the banning of books – all books – is wrong.  And while there may be contents in all kinds of books that we wouldn’t defend per se (some parts of the Bible spring to mind), preventing that material from being seen or accessed is woefully misguided.  Ultimately, the decision about what books are appropriate for any young person is one that needs to be made by that young person, in conversation with his, her, or their parents.  It is not a decision that should rest with a self-appointed group of citizens seeking to act in loco parentis for all the young people in Old Lyme, or wherever such groups materialize.  Such efforts are corrosive to civic communities, and they erode the fabric of democracy.  

More importantly, however, they also erode the confidence and well being of those living in our communities who identify as LGBTQ+, or more particularly, as trans.  Book bans are a way of saying not only that printed matter should be removed or suppressed.  They are a way of saying that the lives portrayed and depicted in that printed matter should also be banned, or removed from public view.  In that sense, the efforts undertaken by those seeking to ban these books can and should be understood as a form of bullying.  Such efforts are mean spirited, cruel, regressive, and hurtful to a population that is already forced to live precariously.  They fail to imagine how painful it might be to live as trans (or, more broadly, as LGBTQ+) in a community where such a letter is publicly circulated.

The Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School has it right.  We wish to live in a community that affirms, for all of its residents, those three beautiful statements: “You Belong Here.” “You’re Doing Great.” “We Believe in You.”  

The ministers of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme wish to convey those sentiments to all of those in our midst who have been targeted in this campaign.  We stand against book banning.  We stand with our libraries, and with our librarians.  Most of all, we stand with those who identify as LGBTQ+, and with all of those who find ways to love and to live outside of the norms prescribed by so much of our society.

We see you.  We love you.  You belong here.  You’re doing great.  And we believe in you.