Author responds to Sen. Kennedy’s viral reading of ‘Gender Queer:’ ‘I don’t recommend this book for children’
“Gender Queer” writer Maia Kobabe reacted to a Republican senator reading a sexually explicit passage from the book throughout a Senate listening to, stating that it is not really useful for “kids.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., read from several explicit books present in public colleges across the nation final Tuesday. One of the titles was Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel that has induced controversy amongst mother and father and criticized for its depictions of intercourse acts in addition to discussions of masturbation. It was essentially the most banned book in 2021, in accordance to the American Library Association.
Kennedy learn one express passage from “Gender Queer” at a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to that went viral. Kobabe reacted to Kennedy’s reading in an interview with The Washington Post Thursday.
In this picture illustration, Sen. Kennedy (left) discusses Maia Kobabe’s (proper) book “Gender Queer” throughout a Senate listening to.
“I have seen the clip. Another trans-activist friend texted it to me with a very ‘Congratulations and also I’m sorry’ attitude,” Kobabe mentioned.
“[T]he point of the comics was initially to be a tool to help me come out to my own family. A way to say: ‘This is what I’m talking about when I talk about gender. The pronouns are the tip of the iceberg,” Kobabe, who makes use of “e/em/eir” pronouns, mentioned.
The Washington Post requested, “The way protesters have described the book online — they make it sound like it’s marketed to 6-year-olds.”
Kobabe responded, “It keeps being called a children’s book. Senator Kennedy implied it was a children’s book. But I think that’s coming from a misreading of the comic-book form. ‘Gender Queer’ is a comic, and in full color, but that doesn’t mean it’s for children. I originally wrote it for my parents, and then for older teens who were already asking these questions about themselves. I don’t recommend this book for kids!”
FOX News Digital reached out to Kobabe’s representatives for remark to make clear which ages the book is meant for and didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Previously, Kobabe wrote an October 2021 opinion article within the Post entitled “Schools are banning my book. But queer kids need queer stories” during which Kobabe thought at one level the book was for the “high school and above” age group. High faculty ages are typically in between 14 and 18.
KENTUCKY DISTRICT OFFICIAL INVOKES ADOLF HITLER IN DEFENSE OF ‘PORNOGRAPHY’ BOOK CHALLENGED BY MOM
“When I was on book tour in 2019, I was asked many times, ‘What age of reader do you recommend this book for?’ I would generally answer, ‘High school and above,’ but the truth is, the readers I primarily wrote it for were my own parents and extended family,” Kobabe wrote for the Post.
Maia Kobabe, the writer of “Gender Queer,” one of essentially the most banned books in America. (Maia Kobabe | YouTube/Screenshot)
In May 2022, Kobabe was interviewed by The New York Times. The newspaper wrote Kobabe “imagined the memoir would appeal mainly to young adults who had also wrestled with gender identity, and to friends and family of nonbinary people. The book’s publisher, Lion Forge, marketed it toward older teens and adults.”
In an interview with Pen America in May 2023, Kobabe mentioned, “If I’d had a book to read like this, specifically, when I was like a freshman in high school, it would have saved me years of questioning and confusion about my identity, and could have really helped me figure out who I was and how I wanted to interact with people through the world and who I wanted to be much sooner. I didn’t really figure that stuff out until I was in my late 20s.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
For extra Culture, Media, Education, Opinion and channel protection, go to foxnews.com/media