Do Parents Even Care About Sexualized Content?
Vin Gopal Questions the Existence of Parental Concerns
“Manufactured Outrage”
Senator Vin Gopal's (LD11) intentional lack of awareness regarding the news stories concerning the contested books in New Jersey schools has him blatantly disregarding parental concerns over sexually explicit books. He seems to wrongly associate the issue with race without substantiated evidence. Despite the loud and public demands from parents to remove sexually explicit content from libraries, Gopal disregards these calls as nonexistent, dismissing them as "manufactured outrage" orchestrated by GOP operatives.
Please refer to the video below (complements of Blue Start Union to witness his dismissive remarks towards parents )
If he was genuinely interested in addressing parents’ concerns, he would have taken steps to become informed about the books being challenged at Roxbury, West Morris Mendham High school, Washington Township, Spartan(Ocean Township) and North Hunterdon-Voorhees. He would discover that parents are frustrated with librarians who appear to have a hidden agenda of stocking their libraries with age-inappropriate material containing sexual content. Some of these books even include images of sucking the one eyed snake, licking a fuzzy taco and making the beast with 2 backs. For those of you unfamiliar with these terms, please see urban dictionary, but that last euphemism was complements of Shakespeare.
Freedom to Read Act
The most annoying part is that Gopal is on the Senate Education committee and is promoting Bill S-2421 / A-3446, the “Freedom to Read Act” or as everyone else called it, “Freedom to Read Porn Act, for kids!” Radical librarians are cheering for this bill because it removes any legal action for librarians distributing obscene material to kids, which is indeed a NJ law for all adults.
Sexually Explicit Books Do Exist in LD11
In the video above, the senator explains that these sexually explicit books are not available in his district in the schools.
So we did a little digging and GUESS WHAT?
We found sexually explicit material in Ocean Township High School (Spartan), Monmouth Regional high school (Tinton Falls), Rumson Fair Haven Regional, Neptune Township high school AND middle school.
Please read the full report below with links to their library so that you can look them up yourself. This document is in PDF format, making it potentially more convenient to download from a computer or your phone if it is capable of reading a PDF.
Vin Gopal has declared his intention to address the presence of certain books in the school libraries within his districts. It remains to be seen whether he will take action or choose to ignore the issue by figuratively closing his eyes, covering his ears, and refusing to acknowledge the situation.
If you do care you may want to give his office a call (732) 695-3371 or send him an email SenGopal@njleg.org . He needs to hear from you.
This is the ignorance that we have to deal with. How can a Senator sit on a committee to pass a bill that he knows nothing about and publicly announce to constituents his blatant disregard for what is happening in our schools and then chalk it off as "manufactured outrage". If he wants outrage he's now got it. I am spitting mad. Called his office and left him message to call me. Can't wait.
My Outrage is NOT Manufactured
Pete K
Mar 7, 2024, 8:56 AM (1 day ago)
to SenGopal, bcc: chaosandcontrol
Dear Senator Gopal, please explain to me, a parent of an 8 year-old boy and a 4 year-old girl, why you find it necessary to protect school librarians who curate books containing sexually explicit materials. I find this objectionable using any standard. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Peter Kraft
North Caldwell, NJ
Gopal, Sen. D.O.
12:11 PM (4 minutes ago)
to me
Dear Peter Kraft,
Thank you for your email. Senator Gopal values your input and we appreciate you taking the time to contact the office about S2421, which would establish requirements for library material in public school libraries and public libraries while protecting school library media specialists and librarians from harassment.
As of January 29th, S2421 has been introduced and referred to the Senate Education Committee. I have forwarded your message to Senator Gopal’s policy advisor, who will make sure the Senator takes your comments into consideration.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts about this legislation with Senator Gopal’s Office. Please do not hesitate to reach out in the future, should you have any questions or concerns you would like to discuss.
Sincerely,
Alexandria S.
Legislative Aide
Office of Senator Gopal