Following complaints that “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish” by Lil Miss Hot Mess was read at a Lincolnwood Library story hour, library board meetings have become a heated space as community members debate the presence of LGBTQ+ books in the children’s collection. The Lincolnwood Library Board of Trustees held their third meeting regarding the topic on Monday, Nov. 28. The Board will neither remove the challenged book from the collection, nor move the book out of the children’s section.

“I’ve listened to comments today, and it seems to me that people on both sides strongly feel that no books should be banned by the library. And so then I have to say I do not understand why we continue to have hearings,” commenter Scott Wilde said. “My other feeling, and I think the previous speaker pointed this out, is that if you are a resident of Lincolnwood, you have the obligation if you want things changed to, in this case, run for the library board yourself and the election is in early April. That’s how you communicate your desire to change.”

The two sides were clearly split and advocated for opposing outcomes. On one side, speakers thought that the idea of limiting access to a book in any form, from moving to a different section or removing it from the library collection, would be harmful to the LGBT+ community.

“The reality is, parents would prefer their children not read a book, and that’s their decision, but that does not give them the right to impose their short-sighted views on anyone else’s children,” Lincolnwood resident Susan Ginsburg said. “In my opinion, parents who are opposed to certain books sell their children short. The library is a public building, I pay taxes to our library as all residents of Lincolnwood do. It should be an apolitical space with a wide variety of genres and book titles from which to choose.”

Multiple speakers pointed out that librarians should be trusted professionals who know which books are age appropriate. Others disagreed with this idea.

“The responsibility of this entire process lies clearly on the shoulders of one entitled person, the most meaningful and influential person in a child’s life, the parent,” Lincolnwood resident Bryan Johnson said. “The library has decided that they, not you the parent, know what is best for your child. They know it is the right time for your child to be exposed to sensitive topics, and not you.”

Resident Kari Gutstein argued that a second title, “The Bare Naked Book” by Kathy Stinson and Melissa Cho, contains graphic content that is not suitable for children and brought a visual aid calling attention to adult nudity in the book.

Another Lincolnwood resident, Jen Mierish, purchased “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish,” herself and brought it to the meeting for other attendees to read.

“If you looked in this book and searched it cover to cover for anything that was obscene, sexual, raunchy, you would come up with a big fat zero. There is nothing inappropriate in here,” Mierish said.

Many speakers during the public comment period were fact-checking the claims made at previous meetings. Attendees spoke about the misinformation that was confirmed by the library director in a Chicago Tribune article following the Oct. 24 meeting. Speakers said that they never called for the books to be banned, only moved out of the children’s section of the library. They also said they never thought the story hour in which the book, “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish,” was read by an actual drag queen. Others who spoke at the meeting argued that no books should be banned for their content.

Sophia Lannoye contributed to this story. 

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CORRECTIONS:

A previous version of this story referred to Kari Gutstein as Cary Godstein. It also incorrectly attributed Gutstein’s visual aid to “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.”