Local
Critics falsely claim LGBTQ books promote pedophilia in Fairfax schools
Complaints by parents prompt removal of two titles for ‘detailed review’
A leader of a group that advocates for LGBTQ students in the Fairfax County, Va., public school system expressed concern this week that misinformed parents and news media outlets were incorrectly reporting that two controversial LGBTQ-themed books available in high school libraries promoted pedophilia.
Following strong objections to the books by parents at a Sept. 23 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board, officials with Fairfax County Public Schools announced they had removed the books from the school libraries to reassess their suitability for high school students.
The two books, “Lawn Boy,” a novel by author Jonathan Evison, and “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” which is described as an illustrated autobiography by non-binary author Maia Kobabe, each contain graphic descriptions of sexual acts. But supporters and opponents of the books strongly disagree over whether those depicted as having sex in books include children having sex with an adult.
During the Fairfax School Board meeting last week, Stacy Langton, a parent of two students attending a Fairfax County high school, described in detail a passage from “Lawn Boy” in which the book’s lead character tells a friend that when he was 10 years old, he engaged in oral sex with “the real estate guy” named Doug.
Langston told school board members and many parents attending the meeting that the passage in “Lawn Boy,” “describes a fourth-grade boy performing oral sex on an adult male.” She said the other book, “Gender Queer,” “has detailed illustrations of a man having sex with a boy.”
Robert Rigby, co-president of Fairfax Public Schools Pride, an LGBTQ advocacy group, strongly disputes Langston’s claims that the books depict sex between adults and children.
“I have read them cover to cover and this is simply not true,” he told the Washington Blade.
The Blade couldn’t immediately obtain copies of the two books, which have been sold out at local bookstores. Rigby, however, provided the Blade with excerpts of other passages of “Lawn Boy” that he said Langston and others attacking the book either have not read or have chosen to ignore. Those passages make it clear that the person with whom the fourth-grade boy had sex was another boy his own age that took place years earlier and there are no passages in “Lawn Boy” where adults have sex with children.
One of the passages from the book that opponents did not read at the school board meeting includes the book’s main character, Mike Munoz, telling how he liked going to a Bible study class as a 10-year-old kid because the boy he later says he had sex with was also attending the class.
“All told, there were eight or nine other kids, including my hero, Doug Goble, long before he became the hottest real-estate agent in Kitsap County.”
Rigby said he and others who have read and viewed the illustrations in “Gender Queer” do not believe the comic book style drawings depicting sexual acts include a child having sex with an adult as claimed by opponents of the books.
“The scene published is a scene between genderqueer adults in their early 20s,” Rigby said. “Someone pointed out an imagined scene of a Greek vase in which some folks brought up the idea of Ancient Greek ‘pederasty,’” said Rigby, who added that the book could not be interpreted to show an adult having sex with a juvenile. “Instead, a genderqueer person is imagining themselves a genderqueer person in the scene,” he said.
“Our position on the books controversy is that it is not so much about the books,” said Rigby. “It is an effort to continue the crisis about schools over the next few months targeting libraries and LGBTQIA+ people,” with the aim, he said, to drive up conservative turnout for the November Virginia gubernatorial election. “We have seen this movie before in Fairfax,” he said.
Langston, the parent who spoke at the school board meeting, said she and other parents consider the two books to be a form of pornography because they include explicit descriptions or illustrations of sexual acts regardless of who is engaging in those acts.
“I’m not one of those activist moms or disgruntled moms,” she stated in an interview with Fox News. “This is not about being anti-gay, anti-trans or whatever. I would have been there and said every single word I said if this had been the depiction of a heterosexual couple with heterosexual acts – pornography is pornography and I don’t care what the gender is,” she told Fox News.
“And by the way, it’s even worse that the pornography involves children,” she said. “That takes it to a whole other level of evil.”
The Fairfax Public Schools released a statement announcing it had suspended circulation of the two books from its libraries.
“FCPS is in the process of convening two committees made up of staff, students and parents led by our Library Services Coordinator to assess the suitability of both texts for inclusion in our high school libraries,” the statement says. “The recommendation of the committees will be put forward to the Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services who will make a final decision as to whether FCPS continues to provide access to these books in our high school libraries,” it says.
Both books have received the American Library Association’s Alex Award, an annual award that recognizes the year’s “ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18,” according to the Associated Press.
A review by the publication Book Browse describes “Lawn Boy” as a “funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel” that takes the reader “into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity.”
A review by the Cartoon Art Museum based in San Francisco describes “Gender Queer” as an “intensely cathartic autobiography” by author Maia Kobabe that tells of a “journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society.” The review says that the book, which starts as a way for the author to explain what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, becomes more than just a personal story.
“It is a useful and touching guide on gender identity – what it means and how to think about it – for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.”
Rigby and Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch, who is gay, have said they have become the target of hostile social media postings by opponents of the two books. The Associated Press reported that Frisch “offered a defense of sorts” for the two books in a Twitter message he posted following the school board meeting in which the subject of the books came up.
He stated, “nothing will disrupt our Board’s commitment to LGBTQIA+ students, families and staff. Nothing,” the AP quoted his message as saying. But the AP said he wasn’t explicit about whether his tweet was referring to the attacks against the two books and he declined comment when contacted by the AP.
“The past 36 hours have been surreal,” Frisch stated in another social media posting. “Led by a local, right-wing, anti-schools advocate who claimed I was defending pornography and perversion, I’ve received nearly 1,000 comments, emails, voicemails, etc. from around the world attacking me as some sort of child predator,” he wrote.
Maryland
Silver Spring holds annual Pride In The Plaza
‘Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience’
Silver Spring’s annual Pride in the Plaza event took place on Sunday to celebrate the LGBTQ community and emphasize inclusion and resilience.
“Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience, love,” Robyn Woods, program and outreach director for Live In Your Truth, which organized the event, said. “I mean, just being surrounded by the community and so many great entrepreneurs, business owners, and just being a part of this whole rainbow coalition that we call the LGBTQIA to be about.”
With the event being her first time organizing for Live In Your Truth, Woods said she felt emotional to see the support and love at the event.
“Some people (are) bringing out their children, their babies, their grandparents,” Woods said. “It’s a lot more allies here than anything else. That type of support to me means so much more than just support from my community; just outside support, inside support, so much support around it, so much love. Everyone’s smiling outside, helping each other.”
Attendees of the event were able to head over to the Family Fun Zone, an air-conditioned Pride Cool Down Lounge, or watch live drag performances in the main stage area.
Along with entertainment and a shaved-ice stand, rows of information tables stood along the plaza, including FreeState Justice, the Washington Spirit, Trans Maryland, Moco Pride Center, and the Heartwood Program, an organization that offers support, therapy, education, and resources to the LGBTQ community.
“I want people to know about our services, and I love what we have to offer,” Jessica Simon, psychotherapist for Heartwood Program’s Gender Wellness Clinic, said. “I (also) want to be part of a celebration with the community, and so it feels good to be here with other people who have something they want to give to the community.”
She added that within today’s political climate, to which she called an “antidote to shame,” it’s important to be celebrating Pride.
“There’s a lot of demonization of LGBTQI people,” Siena Iacuvazzi, facilitator for Maryland Trans Unity, said. “(Pride) is part of the healing process.”
Iacuvazzi said she was taught to be ashamed of who she was growing up, but being a part of a community helped her flourish in the future.
“I was taught how to hate myself. I was taught that I was an abomination to God,” she said. “But being a community is like understanding that there are people who have experienced the same thing, and they’re flourishing. They’re flourishing because they’re willing to stand up for themselves as human beings and discover themselves and understand what’s true for themselves.”
She added that Pride allows for a mutual understanding to take place.
“It’s more of a sense of belonging … and just taking that home and understanding you’re not alone,” Iacuvazzi said. “We’re each taking our own journey — we’re not putting that on each other. It’s just walking away with a sense of belonging and humanity.”
Similar to Iacuvazzi, Woods said she hopes attendees’ biggest takeaways would be family, fun, resilience, and pride.
“Being proud of yourself, being happy for who you are, and representation and how much it matters,” she continued. “And I think all these young people that are walking around here get to see versions of themselves, but older. They get to see so many different lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual people that are successful, that are showing love, that care, and it’s not how we’re portrayed in the media. It’s lovely to see it out here. (It’s) like we’re one big old, happy family.”
Virginia
Spanberger touts equality, reproductive rights in Arlington
Democratic Va. gubernatorial nominee made campaign stop at Freddie’s Beach Bar
With the general election heating up and LGBTQ rights under increasing threat nationwide, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger brought her “Span Virginia Bus Tour” to Arlington’s Freddie’s Beach Bar for a campaign stop filled with cheers, policy pledges, and community spirit.
Spanberger, who served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 through early 2025 for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, also served as a federal law enforcement officer specializing in narcotics and money laundering cases, and as a CIA case officer working on counterterrorism and nuclear counterproliferation.
Spanberger is running against Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, the current lieutenant governor of Virginia, who said she was “morally opposed” to a bill protecting marriage equality in the commonwealth.
She was joined by other Democratic candidates and supporters: lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Ghazala Hashmi, attorney general candidate Jay Jones, Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), and Congressman Don Beyer.
Freddie’s was packed wall-to-wall with supporters, many of whom wore “Spanberger for Virginia” shirts in the progressive Pride flag colors. In her speech, she made it clear that LGBTQ Virginians’ rights are on the ballot this year.
“I’m so excited to be here, and I am so grateful to the entire staff of Freddy’s for letting us overtake this incredible venue that is not just an awesome place to come together in community, but is a symbol to so many people of joy, of happiness, of community and of celebrating our friends and our neighbors,” Spanberger told the packed restaurant. “It is exciting to be here, and particularly during this Pride month, and particularly as we reflect on the 10-year anniversary of Obergefell and the reality that we still have so much work to do.”
“The reality is there are so many people who still would be inclined to take us backwards,” she said. “In this moment when we see attacks on people’s rights, on people’s humanity, on Virginia, on our economy, on research, on public education, on food security, on health care, on Virginians, on their jobs, on public service and on people — it can get heavy.”
“What it does for me is it makes me want to double down, because once upon a time, when I was talking to my mother about some horror show or sequence of activities coming out of a particular administration, she did not really have the patience to listen to me and said ‘Abigail, let your rage fuel you’ — and the conversation was over. And so I reflect on that, because, in fact, every day there is so much fuel to be had in this world and in this moment.”
One of the points Spanberger continued to emphasize was the importance of steadfast state government officials following the election of President Donald Trump, which has led to rollbacks of LGBTQ and bodily autonomy rights as a result of the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court.
“What the past few years have shown us is that a Supreme Court decision, no matter how many years we have celebrated its existence, does not protect us in the long term. And so as governor, I will work to make sure that every protection we can put in place for the dignity, the value, and the equal rights of all Virginians is a priority.”
During her speech, Spanberger highlighted several of the key values driving her campaign — protecting reproductive freedom and human rights, lowering healthcare costs, safeguarding Virginia’s environment, and ensuring that public education is affordable, accessible, and rooted in truth, not politics.
Spanberger went as far as to say that she wants to amend the state’s constitution to remove Section 15-A. “The reality is that in Virginia, we still have a ban in our state constitution on marriage equality. It is of the utmost urgency that we move forward with our constitutional amendment.”
“We will work to ensure that that terrible constitutional amendment, that was put in years ago, is taken out and updated and ensuring that Virginia is reflective in our most essential documents of who we are as a commonwealth, which is an accepting place that celebrates the vibrancy of every single person and recognizes that all Virginians have a place, both in that constitution and in law,” she added.
Following the event, two supporters spoke to the Washington Blade about why they had come out to support Spanberger.
“I came out because I needed to show support for this ticket, because it has been a particularly rough week, but a long few years for our rights in this country, in this state, with this governor, and it’s — we need to flip it around, because queer people need protection,” said Samantha Perez, who lives in Ballston. “Trans people need protection. Trans kids need protection. And it’s not gonna happen with who’s in Richmond right now, and we just need to get it turned around.”
“The whole neighborhood’s here. All our friends are here,” said Annie Styles of Pentagon City. “It means the world to me to take care of each other. That’s what a good community does. That’s not what we’ve had with the Republicans here or across the nation for a really long time. It’s time to show that care. It’s time to make sure that good people are in a position to do good things.”
District of Columbia
Activists protest outside Hungarian Embassy in DC
Budapest Pride scheduled to take place Saturday, despite ban
More than two dozen activists gathered in front of the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on Friday to protest the country’s ban on Budapest Pride and other LGBTQ-specific events.
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien read a letter that Dávid Vig, executive director of Amnesty International Hungary, wrote.
“For 30 years Budapest Pride has been a celebration of hope, courage, and love,” said Vig in the letter that O’Brien read. “Each march through the streets of Budapest has been a powerful testament to the resilience of those who dare to demand equality, but a new law threatens to erase Pride and silence everyone who demands equal rights for LGBTI people.”
“The Hungarian government’s relentless campaign against LGBTI rights represents a worrying trend that can spread normalizing division and hatred,” added Vig. “Thank you for standing with us when we refuse to be intimidated.”
Council for Global Equality Chair Mark Bromley and two of his colleagues — Stephen Leonelli and Keifer Buckingham — also spoke. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and Chloe Schwenke, a political appointee in the Obama-Biden administration who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Planned Parenthood staffers are among those who attended the protest.
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
Hungarian lawmakers in March passed a bill that bans Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs in April amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on Saturday, despite the ban. Hundreds of European lawmakers are expected to participate.
“Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love,” said David Pressman, the gay former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, on Friday on social media.
Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love. Szabadság és szerelem. My past remarks on Budapest Pride: https://t.co/y1QhA9QouA
— David Pressman (@AmbPressman) June 27, 2025
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