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A high school board meeting in Chicago, Illinois became a lightning rod for the current culture war. Some parents and other area residents attended a board meeting for Community High School District 99.

The protesters carried signs that said, "NO PORN" and claimed that their children were being exposed to homoerotic language and images. And at the center of all this is an autobiographical memoir titled Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.

The board meeting was recorded and uploaded to YouTube.

www.youtube.com

The protest was organized by the far-right, Trump supporting, SPLC designated hate group, The Proud Boys. Because of their postings on social media, many parents and protesters came thinking their children were being indoctrinated with gay pornography.

But the book is far from it. While the book does contain some discussion and depiction of sexual acts, most of the book is about the author's self-discovery in their own identity.

The book isn't required reading for any class, yet that didn't stop protesters from claiming that it's:

"liberal code for teaching children how to perform oral sex, anal sex, wear strap-on dildos."

The same protester who said this, also said:

"It's not your right to decide if our minor children should have access to pornography."

Some other parents were questioned about the book with one father claiming it made him sick. When questioned further, he said he hadn't read it, but just watched a YouTube video about it.

As you can expect, their claims were taken with a grain of salt.

More importantly, the students refused to be left out of the conversation. Many had their own opinions on the controversy surrounding the book.

Lauren Pierret, a senior at the school, said:

"Let's not present getting rid of Gender Queer as censoring our children from sex. It's homophobia."

She also pointed out that other books with graphic sex scenes like The Handmaid's Tale are still available in the library, and the parents aren't protesting those.

Another senior, Josiah Poynter said:

"Inclusion matters to young people. This is why we must have this book in our school's library... It brings comfort to people who feel unsolved and cast out."

The student's counter protest fairly successfully defended the book.

The superintendent said they would review the book's availability due to the two formal complaints, but it met the standards for inclusion in the school library.

The meeting wasn't even intended to discuss the book, but was forced on the meeting by the small band of protesters. It isn't part of any required curriculum, and only one copy of the book was available for check out at each library at the two high schools.

Elsewhere Gender Queer has been successfully banned by similar protest tactics. Virginia's largest school district removed the book earlier this year due to "parents' concerns."