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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit

North Texas superintendent orders books removed from schools, targeting titles about transgender people

The Granbury superintendent’s comments, made on a leaked recording, raise constitutional concerns, legal experts said.

By Jeremy Schwartz, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, and Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News
Granbury ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeremy K. Glenn discusses agenda items with school board trustees at a GISD school board meeting in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022.
Granbury ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeremy K. Glenn listens as trustees discuss agenda items at a GISD school board meeting in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022
Lou Whiting in their home in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022. “I’ve had my fair share of active hate against me, and my friends, and my community. I’ve always kind of been ‘that queer person’…I’ve always put myself in that danger because I’m more comfortable being myself. But I definitely can’t say that’s the same for every queer person.”

‘A very conservative board’

Lou Whiting has their own copy of “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson, but it is one of the many books that the Granbury ISD school board has decided to ban from its schools. “I’ve read this book however many times I questioned my identity”, said Whiting, noting the positive impact it had on them to read books they can identify with.

LGBTQ students push back

Lou Whiting, a junior at Granbury High School, speaks against the removal of books from schools at a GISD school board meeting in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022.
Lou Whiting, a junior at Granbury High School, gets emotional once returning to their chair next to their father, David, after they publicly spoke out against the removal of books from the GISD schools at a school board meeting in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022.

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