![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/icon\/chat-rect.svg\")
<\/a>![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/icon\/share-outline.svg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/15\/03\/150386_w_760_542.webp\")
<\/source><\/picture>Editor’s note: This article contains sexually graphic language contained in books found in public school libraries that were discussed as part of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 12.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A U.S. senator has\u00a0invoked strong reactions after reading aloud content from sexually explicit books found in public school libraries across the nation during a Senate hearing last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing<\/a> Tuesday titled \u201cBook Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature.\u201d The hearing title reflects concerns from Democrats that restrictions on the availability of sexually explicit books in schools amount to \u201cbook bans.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., used his time at the hearing to read excerpts<\/a> from two books available in many public school libraries that have come under scrutiny for their sexually explicit content: All Boys Aren\u2019t Blue<\/em> and Gender Queer<\/em>. The excerpt of All Boys Aren\u2019t Blue,<\/em> read aloud by Kennedy, provided graphic details of same-sex sexual activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI put some lube on and got him on his knees and I began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated. He asked me to turn over while he slipped a condom on himself. This was my a– and I was struggling to imagine someone inside me. He got on top and slowly inserted himself into me. It was the worst pain I think I have ever felt in my life. Eventually, I felt a mix of pleasure with pain,\u201d the excerpt read.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kennedy also read aloud a quote from Gender Queer<\/em>, which has similar graphic language: \u201cI got a new strap-on harness today. I can\u2019t wait to put it on you. It will fit my favorite dildo perfectly. You\u2019re going to look so hot. I can\u2019t wait to have your c— in my mouth. I\u2019m going to give you the b— j– of your life then I want you inside of me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Among those who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee was Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who focused on Illinois’ new anti-book ban law. He answered with a \u201cno\u201d when Kennedy asked if \u201conly librarians should decide whether the two books that I just referenced should be available to kids.\u201d He told Kennedy, \u201cthe words you spoke are disturbing, especially coming out of your mouth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not advocating for kids to read porn,\u201d he claimed. However, he also insisted that parents should not have \u201cthe ability under the guise of keeping kids safe to try and challenge the worldview of every single manner on these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Giannoulias warned of a \u201cslippery slope\u201d if parents had the ability to raise objections to certain books available in school libraries: \u201cWhen individual parents are allowed to make a decision of where that line is in To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em>, which involves a rape scene, should that book be pulled from our libraries?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Kennedy also criticized the implication from Democrats that librarians should have the sole say as to what books are in their libraries and that parents should have \u201cnothing to do with it.\u201d He asked those gathered to speak against regulating sexually explicit books in public schools that promote grooming and pedophilia, \u201cIf that\u2019s your response, what planet did you just parachute in from, or what country, more appropriately?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not China,\u201d Kennedy asserted. Kennedy\u2019s comments reflect a concern that advocates of allowing sexually explicit books in schools want the government to have an outsized role in raising and shaping the values of children, as is the case in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s reading aloud of sexually explicit books at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing sparked intense reactions from social commentators on both sides of the political aisle. Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro<\/a> of The Daily Wire addressed Kennedy\u2019s reading aloud of All Boys Aren\u2019t Blue<\/em> and Gender Queer<\/em> and the media\u2019s reaction to it on \u201cThe Ben Shapiro Show\u201d Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shapiro played a clip of the relevant portion of what he described as a \u201cvery weird hearing,\u201d summarizing Kennedy\u2019s point as \u201cI\u2019m going to read into the Congressional Record one of these books that you suggest must be in a school library and let\u2019s see if you get uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re uncomfortable, then maybe it shouldn\u2019t be in a school library where seventh graders can read it,\u201d Shapiro asserted as he continued to outline the point of view espoused by Kennedy and other critics of sexually explicit books in schools. After the clip concluded, Shapiro stated that \u201cthe entire media was like \u2018what a weirdo\u2019\u201d and asked, \u201cWhy would John Kennedy read that out loud?\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro then asked a question of the corporate press, \u201cIf you think that\u2019s weird that an adult is reading that, why do you want a sixth or seventh grader to read that?\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cI notice that it is you who are promoting this material, and when John Kennedy says the thing out loud, then you get all uptight. What are you, some sort of prude?\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro also reacted to the assurance from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that \u201cno one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or a children\u2019s section of a library\u201d by asking, \u201cWhy should that even be available in a school library for high schoolers\u201d and \u201cWhy should taxpayers be funding that sort of crap?\u201d He characterized the analysis from supporters of sexually explicit books in school libraries as \u201cNo, we\u2019re not doing it, but it\u2019s good that we are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf a local school district decides they don\u2019t want that there, what business is it of Dick Durbin to decide that it must be there? What is \u2026 the reason why that must be there? Is that a piece of great literature that is required for you to pass your English comp class?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the hosts<\/a> of the far-left program \u201cThe Young Turks\u201d reacted to Kennedy\u2019s book reading by commenting on the awkwardness of a senator reading aloud sexually explicit material. \u201cWhen I first started watching, I was like, \u2018is this a confession,\u2019\u201d stated co-host Cenk Uygur.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLike all senators, he\u2019s 98 years old, but if he ever runs for re-election, that might get used in an ad,\u201d Uygur predicted. Co-host Ana Kasparian quipped that Kennedy could \u201chave a little bit of a side hustle as a phone sex operator.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Uygur also contended that the senator\u2019s attempt to have the book removed from school libraries backfired when he read it aloud because \u201ckids are now infinitely more likely to have heard it because of John Kennedy, let alone more likely to read the book\u201d due to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing drawing interest on the internet.<\/p>\n Kasparian also viewed Kennedy\u2019s efforts as counterproductive, claiming, \u201cI doubt that any student even knew that either All Boys Aren\u2019t Blue<\/em> or Gender Queer<\/em> were available in their libraries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST<\/strong> newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFree<\/span> Religious Freedom Updates<\/h2>\n