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 controversy youtu.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.
The books supports being an individual not promoting a \u201cgay lifestyle\u201d which isn\u2019t a f\u2019ing thing \u2026swear to made up sky wizards this country is going to sheit!!! #loveislove #gaylifestyleisntathing #unicorn #rainbowshttps://www.rawstory.com/banned-books-2657138303/\u00a0\u2026— Voodoo 7 (@Voodoo 7) 1649715448
Republicans are taking issue with a book's message to kids that it's good to be themselves. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unicorn-book-ban-push-ohio-lgbtq_n_6254a11be4b052d2bd58faa1?utm_campaign=share_twitter&ncid=engmodushpmg00000004\u00a0\u2026 # via @HuffPostPol— Dr. Laura M. Jimenez (@Dr. Laura M. Jimenez) 1649766661
Oh good grief. @wnderfriends book IT'S OK TO BE A UNICORN is a delight.https://twitter.com/booktoss/status/1513857216276795395\u00a0\u2026— Lynne Perednia (@Lynne Perednia) 1649767011
In today\u2019s America, this is an emergency.https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/ohio-school-board-meeting-unicorn/\u00a0\u2026— K. C. Boyd (@K. C. Boyd) 1649775815
Evidently some Ohio parents don't think it's okay to be a unicornhttps://www.alternet.org/2022/04/ohio-school-board-meeting-unicorn/\u00a0\u2026— Randy Richardson (@Randy Richardson) 1649714626
But we're the easily triggered snowflakeshttps://www.alternet.org/2022/04/ohio-school-board-meeting-unicorn/\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0fBlue & Yellow Wisco\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0fBlue & Yellow Wisco\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1649715455
Welcome to Ohio where it's not okay to be a unicorn but banning books is perfectly acceptable. \n\nRepublicans are taking issue with a book's message to kids that it's good to be themselves. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unicorn-book-ban-push-ohio-lgbtq_n_6254a11be4b052d2bd58faa1?utm_campaign=share_twitter&ncid=engmodushpmg00000004\u00a0\u2026 via @HuffPostPol— Shelby Kent-Stewart \u2122 (@Shelby Kent-Stewart \u2122) 1649779470
These homophobic idiots need reprogramming. This has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ just stupid paranoid right wing uneducated parents. \n\nOhio school board holds emergency meeting over \u2018It\u2019s Okay to Be a Unicorn!\u2019 after one parent complainshttps://www.rawstory.com/banned-books-2657138303/\u00a0\u2026— Alder Wood (@Alder Wood) 1649710733
Why does small government maga want to be in everyone's life? Because they rule, they don't govern. \n\nOhio school board holds emergency meeting over \u2018It\u2019s Okay to Be a Unicorn!\u2019 after one parent complainshttps://www.rawstory.com/banned-books-2657138303/\u00a0\u2026— TheRealStratRat (@TheRealStratRat) 1649710246
Because right-wing parents are really really stupid, and horrible. And sadly, school officials are afraid of them...\n\nhttps://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/buckeye-valley-holds-school-board-meeting-book-controversy/530-3108de94-0c80-45b3-8591-3f2cec79eacc\u00a0\u2026 via @10TV— Tim Wise (@Tim Wise) 1649715983
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.
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