‘Award-Winning’ Sexually Explicit Books Terry McAuliffe Kept in Virginia School Libraries

**Warning: Graphic Images**

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) vetoed legislation when he was in office that would have required parental notification for the use of school teaching materials that included sexually explicit content, and he is now defending his action by claiming his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin supports book banning and racism.

“Glenn is spending his final days of the campaign focused on banning award-winning books from our schools & silencing the voices of Black authors,” the Democrat tweeted Monday.

Twitter users, however, shot back at McAuliffe regarding the “award-winning books” his veto kept on the shelves of school libraries in Virginia (Warning: Graphic Images):

In late September, the Fairfax County school district finally removed two books from its libraries, including Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, which contains explicit illustrations of sexual encounters, including oral sex and masturbation, involving children.

Another book, Lawn Boy, contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children.

“Both books were previous winners of the American Library Association’s Alex Awards, which each year recognize ‘ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18,’” the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Fairfax County parent Stacy Langton raised the issue about the books’ accessibility to children at a school board meeting, and, as she read some of the explicit passages from Gender Queer, a school board member cut her off and actually chastised her for using explicit language.

AP noted Gender Queer publisher Oni Press responded to the district’s decision to remove that book with a statement saying the move was “short-sighted and reactionary.”

Youngkin observed the legislation McAuliffe vetoed, passed with Democrat approval as well as that of Republicans, and would have amended the Code of Virginia with the following addition:

Policy on sexually explicit instructional material; parental notification; alternative instructional materials.

A. The Board shall establish a policy to require each public elementary or secondary school to:

1. Notify the parent of any student whose teacher reasonably expects to provide instructional material that includes sexually explicit content, as defined by the Board. Such notification shall (i) directly identify the specific instructional material and sexually explicit content contained in such material and (ii) set forth the parent’s options pursuant to subdivisions 2 and 3;
2. Permit the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content upon request; and
3. Provide, as an alternative to instructional material and related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests.

B. Each local school board shall comply with the policy that is established by the Board pursuant to subsection A.

During a debate with Youngkin in late September, McAuliffe created a firestorm on social media when he stated, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

“I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions,” the Democrat said.