Reading Dangerously: Community Conversation on Genderqueer and L8r, G8r
September 29, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Event Details
Utah Humanities Book Festival’s Reading Dangerously invites educational professionals, parents, and the community at large to discuss challenged books and their impact on society. Conversations are informational and participants are encouraged but not expected to have read the book or be up to date on the conversations beforehand. Moderators and panelists opinions and statements are their own and do not represent the views and values of the sponsoring organizations.
Register here: https://www.facebook.com/events/788571042160888?
The conversation will include a background presentation led by Dr. Kathryn Stockton. The background presentation will provide background for Utah’s sex education laws and context for the censorship of the following books by perspectives across the political spectrum:
1) Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe
New York Times: How a Debut Graphic Memoir Became the Most Banned Book in the Country: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/01/books/maia-kobabe-gender-queer-book-ban.html?auth=login-google
2) L8r, G8r by Lauren Myracle
The Daily Beast Interview with Lauren Myracle: https://www.thedailybeast.com/lauren-myracle-on-why-her-books-top-list-that-america-wants-banned
Next, Dr. Stockton will contextualize for key terms in this conversation: “banned,” “challenged,” sex (act), sex (“biological sex”), gender, sex education, romance, attraction, obscene, pornography, grooming, and child.
Lastly, Dr. Stockton will pose opening discussion questions to our panelists: sex and relationship therapist Kristin Hodson, Annabel Sheinberg of Planned Parenthood, and school psychologist Laurel Woods.
Some questions include: What age group would you consider to be appropriate for these books? Why? How does your expertise as, a sex and relationship therapist, a school psychologist, or as a sexual and reproductive health care provider shape your interaction with the book? Do you consider these books pornographic? Why or why not? How should the current sex education laws impact books like Gender Queer and L8r, G8r? How does the sexual content in Gender Queer and L8r, G8r compare to the sexual content found in other works of classic literature commonly taught to high school-aged students in Utah, such as Romeo and Juliet, The Holy Bible, and Their Eyes Were Watching God?
The conversation then transition to a Q&A conversation with the public.
ASL interpretation will be provided. If you need any accommodations, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/DRTWxH7Mk9Qumrta8
About the Utah Humanities Book Festival:
This event is part of the 25th annual Utah Humanities Book Festival. This annual free festival is the Utah Humanities’ gift to the community, allowing us to explore all sorts of ideas by interacting with great writers. The complete program is available at www.utahhumanities.org.
Our thanks to the Book Festival’s major sponsors: George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks Fund, Summit County RAP, Weber County R.A.M.P., The Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, The King’s English Bookshop, Weller Book Works, Under the Umbrella Bookstore, The Book Bungalow, The National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts and Catalyst.
Date: September 29, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Venue
- Park City Library
-
1255 Park Avenue
Park City, Utah 84060 + Google Map