According to the 10th St. Times (the Waukee Northwest High School student newspaper), the Gay-Straight Alliance group at Waukee Northwest High School hosted a “Blind Dates with a Queer Book” in the school library to celebrate Coming Out Day and LGBTQ+ History Month.
The event included 34 LGBTQ+ books wrapped in rainbow paper with a brief description of the book. According to the school’s magazine (10th St. Times), the leaders of the event hoped to “inspire students to look past the cover and name of stories and try out queer books without the stigma that normally surrounds them.”
The event took place partially in response to what the school magazine called a “recent rise in book bannings in the U.S.”
The school librarian, a person called Tara Rechkemmer, said when it comes to the library, “it is completely free choice.”
“It is up to the student to decide what book is right for them and what book is not right for them,” Rechkemmer told the 10th St. Times.
The goal of the event was to “show the nuance of queer books and how many of their core concepts and ideas fit into common genres.”
The Gay-Straight Alliance hopes the event gives the Waukee community a “much better and healthier insight” into the LGBTQ community.
The Iowa Standard submitted an open records request with the district seeking the titles of the books used for the event.
Other stories from the recent past about Waukee Northwest that have caused concern among some parents in the district include:
MORE FILTH: Waukee Northwest library has sexually explicit teen graphic novel
Check out this poster in Waukee Northwest High School bathrooms
