As the parental rights movement against the sexualization of children heats up, we’re now seeing direct action being taken from parking lots outside of bars to school board meetings — and we’re getting a good look at what sort of action is effective, and what protests are not. Let’s look at two recent protest actions by concerned parents. We’ll call it a tale of two protests.
In Dixon, Illinois, over 100 parents and other concerned members of the community converged on a public meeting of the Dixon Library Board on Monday, June 13. The New Guard, a publication of the Young America’s Foundation, had recently published an article exposing the presence of a number of pornographic books targeted to young people and being seen by children in the library, and the parents were upset. At the meeting in Dixon City Hall, it was standing room only, with parents lined up into the hallways.
As one attendee put it, “I’m here on behalf of my five grandkids … pornography is pornography. I would no more expect to find a copy of Playboy magazine in the library than I would these books.” Another stated, “This specific book, Gender Queer, displays people performing sexual acts on each other, and should not be proudly displayed for anyone to view. We don’t understand why society is pushing such sexualized content on our children, of all ages, especially young children.” Another mom: “We can clearly see the depravity of our society when we even have to have a meeting to discuss the point that our children should be exposed to pornography.”
The result? The books will be made unavailable until a thorough review of obscene materials is done. The parents showed up, voiced their opinion, and got a response. This is effective grassroots action at its best.
