In the latest chapter of the ongoing right-wing panic over LGBTQ content in schools, an Ohio school district has banned a children's book about being a unicorn because it supposedly promotes "a gay lifestyle."
The ban came following an emergency meeting the district called to address a single complaint from one parent in the district about an upcoming event in which the book's author Jason Tharp was going to read it at a school in Delaware, Ohio.
But Tharp, who is straight, says his book "It's Okay To Be A Unicorn!" is not about LGBTQ issues but rather the self-acceptance he learned from nearly dying of a brain tumor.
He and many others are baffled by the controversy--including school employees who were forced to take down artwork promoting Tharp's book and his visit to the school.
Buckeye Valley holds school board meeting after book controversyyoutu.be
Speaking to local news stations, school employee Kaylan Brazelton says she was told to remove the artwork because it included rainbows.
“I was simply confused and people were taking stuff down and…they said we had to take anything down with unicorns and rainbows."
The book's color palette includes rainbows as well, leading many to think that that is why the parent jumped to conclusions and assumed it was an LGBTQ-themed book.
But Tharp told Columbus's ABC 6 that those assumptions are simply incorrect, and that his book has nothing to do with LGBTQ issues.
“I was using my story of struggling because I grew up as an adult and I didn’t like myself and it took a brain tumor for me to realize I was being a horrible human to myself because I was internalizing so much of this stuff.”
Speaking to Columbus's CBS affiliate WBNS, Tharp went on to say that he isn't pushing any agenda at all with his books, beyond self-acceptance.
“I’m not here to entertain adults that want to project their own whatever issues onto a children’s book, I’m here to create books that inspire kids to dream big, embrace themselves, understand the importance of self-kindness... being a human is not easy."
He also had a pointed message for parents outraged over a book simply because it's about a unicorn and contains rainbows.
“If an adult is struggling, that’s what therapy’s for, not my kids’ books."
On Twitter, people found this entire controversy offensive and absurd.
In the end, Tharp was allowed to visit the school, but was forbidden from reading from It's Okay To Be A Unicorn or any other book. God forbid children should be taught about self-acceptance.
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads