The following contains editorial content which is the opinion of the writer.
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USA- If there is one positive that came out of the forced lockdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the opportunity for parents to witness firsthand what their children were being taught in school. And in many cases, they were shocked by what they saw.
That led to a “revolution” of sorts where parents started paying much closer attention to the curriculum in primarily public schools.
Among areas where parents got a rude wakeup call was in the area of books and literature that are being mainstreamed into public schools, much of it sexually explicit or politically motivated in nature.
The background of one of the authors however raises some serious questions. The Federalist is reporting that residents of a Wyoming town had become so disturbed that they actually got the police involved over explicit books found in the local library’s youth section.
Last October, a prosecutor in Cheyenne, Wyoming decided not to charge library employees for making the books, which focused on sex education and LGBT issues, available to young people in the town of Gillette, described as a “deeply conservative” city in the state’s coal mining country, NBC News reported.
One of the books, “Sex is a Funny Word,” was written by a man named Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth. It was recommended on the American Library Association Reading List for 2016.
The book, which is advertised as being intended for children as young as seven-years-old, has been featured in middle school libraries; among the topics it discusses are “subjects of transgender identity, intersex conditions, and masturbation.”
The book also dismisses science and genetics, claiming that “having a penis isn’t what makes you a boy. Having a vulva isn’t what makes you a girl. The truth is much more interesting than that!”
That may seem bad enough, but according to The Federalist, the “thoroughly unnerving—and previously unreported—history of this book’s author and the institutional support that propelled him to notoriety,” makes the story even more “astonishing.”
Silverberg has written four books, according to his website. They all focus on the same thing: sex. All the books save one, “The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability,” are directed toward children.
His latest “masterpiece” is called “You Know, Sex,” a collaboration with Smyth again, not yet available for sale but available for preorder discusses the topics of “pornography,” “stigma,” and “gender.” He claims the book is “essential for kids.”
The bio on his website states, “Cory’s life is full of kids. All of them know where babies come from. Some know more.”
Given the fact that Silverberg seems to be held in such high regard by the academic and library world, it’s probably a good idea to find out what makes him tick, besides the fact that he seems to obsess on, as The Federalist notes, “pornography, transsexuality and masturbation.”
His website upon which he advertises children’s book has the author describe himself as a “founding member of Come As You Are Co-operative,” described as an “anti-capitalist sex shop” in Toronto, Canada, which he conveniently links to.
In a Toronto Star piece a few years back, it advertised that Silverberg’s shop is a “beginner’s sex store.” The paper noted that the store was seeking “to hold an off-site sex-education workshop for parents of children aged 7 to 12., one that will focus on more than reproduction.” Silverberg told the Star that, “Our overall focus is pleasure-based than fear-based.” A bit creepy, no? Since we’re talking about children?
The store’s website features a section which describes the owners’ media appearances. In an edition of Fab magazine, dated February 7, 2007, there is an article titled “Come As You Are Celebrates 10 Years.” This story sent into full detail, speaking to a “Japanese rope bondage” workshop, then changes focus to a live “workshop” that featured sexual demonstrations from two naked men.
While Silverberg’s disturbing focus on children is obvious on his personal website, the sex store’s website is equally child-centric. For example, next to ads for products sold in your “typical” sex shop is a “Kids, Parents, and Teens Books section, which brags of “sex positive guides for younger folk.”
Located within the child’s section are books like “Gender Creative Guide,” which instructs children in masturbation, as well as “Woke Parenting,” which helps parents who want to “raise your kids to be feminist, anti-racist,” and “gender-inclusive.” He also features his own books on the site.
Silverberg is also involved in a group called “Ante Up” an organization that advertises “socio-emotional learning,” a curriculum that is focused “on supporting educators of color and working class educators in unlearning the white supremacist ableist heteropatriarchal ways of writing and educating others.”
Wow…that’s rather wordy.
As bizarre as Silverberg appears to be (and is), the co-founder of his sex shop is even more…well…weird. Meet Clarissa Francis. Her bio claims she “developed the Let Freedom C.U.M. Sexuality Workshop Series to equip Black sexuality professionals, and the aspiring sexually liberated, to recognize and utilize multi-disciplinary approaches to discussing Pleasure Activism as a tool for Black Sexual Liberation.” Whatever that means.
As expected, Ante Up is a popular organization in liberal cities such as New York. The group’s founder, The Federalist reports, Bianca Laureano “wrote the sexual and reproductive justice discussion guide for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene,” according to her bio. In addition Silverberg himself spoke on “Sex is a Funny Word” for the city’s Department of Education Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning.
Silverberg has been, as expected touted as some type of expert on sexuality, including that involving children. He has been pushed by the mainstream media as well as academia, who themselves have helped to push his bizarre beliefs into the mainstream; in other words, the fact that he holds a clearly extreme worldview earns him praise from the far-left loons.
An example is Kristin Russo of BuzzFeed, who called “Sex is a Funny Word” “revolutionary.” BuzzFeed wasn’t alone in touting Silverberg.
For example, that book won the American Library Association’s Stonewall Award while also being celebrated by the School Library Journal, which referred to the book as “exceptional” in particular because of “its introduction of the subjects of transgender identity, intersex conditions, and masturbation.” Just what most parents want their children to be indoctrinated into.
That organization publishes about 6,000 book reviews every year while billing itself as “the premiere publication for librarians and information specialists who work with children and teens.”
Then there’s Lambda Literary, which “nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers,” which groveled over the book, praising the fact it took “his radical approach to sex education” which Silverberg featured in his first book to another level. The review continued to talk about the role the book can have in cementing cultural shifts.
In an interview with that organization, Silverberg answered his critics, who believe he is “warping people’s ideas of gender.” He didn’t even attempt to dismiss that narrative and instead said, “Maybe I am.”
A number of left-wing activists weighed in on the book, lauding it in reviews posted on Amazon.
One, Andee Hochman is described as an “accomplished leftwing activist” who wrote w book about overturning the traditional definition of family. That earned to it being called “one of the100 most important feminist books of the 20th century by Sojourner magazine.”
Hochman embraced Silverberg’s book, saying it had a “radical and urgent message—sexuality with a side of social justice,” while also expressing gratitude that one of the children in the book was described as “non-binary.”
Slate Magazine’s Rachelle Hampton praised the book, claiming it “humorously tackles topics from gender to masturbation” and was “leaps and bounds ahead” of other books “in terms of how progressive it is.”
The Huffington Post went above and beyond what even Slate and BuzzFeed did, whereby several years ago they actually gave Silverberg a platform and hosted a symposium on “reshaping America’s sexual norms” featuring him and a number of left-wing activists.
Other panelists included Leonore Tiefer, who supports the kind of garbage Silverberg writes being made available in school libraries. Tiefer won an award named after the founder of the pro-pedophile group, NAMBLA, Alfred Kinsey.
The fact that Silverberg gets a forum inside our libraries and public schools shows how far our society has digressed, or at least that portion of society that have been trying to mainstream such clearly sick, twisted, and perverted ideas as those pushed by this man. You want to know why parents have had it and are starting to fight back? Here you go.
For our original report on the Wyoming library, we invite you to:
DIG DEEPER
The following contains editorial content which is the opinion of the author.
CAMPBELL COUNTY, WYOMING- Everyone is quite aware of the attempt to indoctrinate our children in far-left alphabet ideology.
For many Americans, what people do in the privacy of their own lives is none of their concern.
When that ideology is pushed in the direction of our most vulnerable, however that is when parents decide to speak out, precisely what is occurring in Wyoming.
Obviously, there are those who have religious or other objections to some ideology, which is their right as human beings.
People have the right to their personal opinions, or at least they used to. For the left however, and most conservatives knew this would be the case, enough is never enough…they always want more.
When gay marriage was allowed by the Supreme Court, it was thought by some among the ignorant masses that this would be enough. For those who know how the radical left like the back of their hands, it was clear this wouldn’t be enough.
And since that time, we have seen exactly what scenario unfold.
Now, employees at a Wyoming library are facing legal trouble after local residents complained to police about books at that library, which they claim are books about sex, LGBTQ… issues, and how babies are made prominently displayed in sections designed for children, Town Hall reports.
A local pastor named Susan Sisti raised concerns about the books, located at the Campbell County Public Library. Among the titles are “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson, “How Do You Make a Baby” by Anna Fiske, “Doing It” by Hanna Witton, “Sex is a Funny Word” by Corey Silverberg, and “Dating and Sex: A Guide for the 21st Century Teen Boy” by Andrew P. Smiler.
“It’s really easy to go into the library and look around a little bit and find a filthy book that should not even be in a public library,” Sisti said according to The Associated Press. “These books are absolutely appalling.”
Sisti filed a complaint with the local sheriff’s office and prosecutors are reviewing the case.
While looking into pursuing charges, prosecutors are seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor to look at the case before deciding whether or not to pursue charges, County Attorney Mitchell Damsky said Friday.
Investigators have yet to contact library staff about the complaint, leaving them unable to know which books are causing the potential legal trouble, according to the library’s executive director, Terri Lesley.
When notified which books are the center of controversy, Lesley said library officials had already looked into a complaint about the book “This Book is Gay” and concluded it was ok to place it in the Teen Room.
The decision was under appeal to the library board as officials review the complaints about the other four titles.
Lesley noted that library staff has been dealing with some 35 recent complaints about 18 books, a phenomenon which she called quite unusual for the library.
“It’s unexpected,” she said. “We are trying to be the force of reason, trying to work through these things using the policy we have in place—review these books and do our due diligence.”
An advocacy group called Wyoming Equality says parents should be able to decide when their children should be able to view such materials.
“Maybe the answer is never. If it’s never, that’s fine. But do you get to make that choice for other families?” asked the LGBTQ group’s executive director, Sara Burlingame.
The prosecutor said the dispute about the books has “gotten contentious and out of hand,” and should probably have been resolved by simply putting the books in amongst adult materials, said Damsky.
Damsky said that as a parent, she found the material to be “inappropriate for children and disgusting.” However she said as a lawyer, she is charged with upholding the Constitution and said the situation would be dealt with “with a fine-toothed comb.”
The complainant Sisti, along with Hugh and Susan Bennett visited the sheriff’s office Wednesday and expressed concern that the books in question may be in violation of child-sex laws. The complaint was reviewed by the sheriff’s office, and they referred the case, first reported in the Gillette News Record to prosecutors.
“It’s very challenging to imagine how a child who’s sexually immature, physically immature, if there’s any reasonable purpose for exposing them to sexual behavior that’s far beyond their physical and mental and emotional and intellectual abilities to understand,” Hugh Bennett said.
In reference to the books, Bennett said they were “hard-core pornography to children.”
For example, as Sisti pointed out, the book “This Book is Gay” describes in illustrative form male and female genitalia, as well as descriptions of oral and anal sex. Damsky however downplayed the complaints, noting that much of the same materials are widely available on the internet.
“What 9-year-old kid today can’t access Pornhub or whatever they want, you know what I mean?” Damsky queried.
The library was already under fire last summer when it was revealed they planned to host a performance by a transgender magician, a show eventually canceled by the magician due to threats.
After the furor raised over the magician’s planned performance, Wyoming Equality met with local officials about the threats, and offered to support the library’s staff. Town officials left Burlingame with the impression that the furor over the library would eventually subside.
‘It seemed like there was some kind of opportunity to put the brakes on this and can we talk to each other,” Burlingame said. “It seems like the train has jumped the tracks.”
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