Let’s Chat: Do not close the door to empathy

By Linda Tooth on July 9, 2025.

Are you familiar with the Stonewall Riots that took place in New York City in 1969? I was only three at the time, so it is not something I had heard of or was familiar with until I purchased the second book in the proposed banning of reading material in school libraries by the UCP government in Alberta.

Gender Queer, A Memoir by Maia Kobabe was awarded the Stonewall Honor Book by the American Library Association in 2020. The Stonewall Riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, is seen as the catalyst for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights not only in the United States but also worldwide.

Kobabe’s graphic novel is an autobiography of their journey identifying as nonbinary and asexual. This 239-page novel takes the reader through the journey of Kobabe being born a female and coming to terms with the fact they are not comfortable identifying as what we would describe as female.

This novel is a bit more graphic in detail compared to Bechdel’s novel Fun Home that I wrote about last week. Detailed in respect to the journey Kobabe took and experiences they encountered not only in society, but also within their family.

We all know or have met people who identifies as part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. They have struggled for years with a lack of inclusivity within society. Who are we to say you cannot read a book that will help you find acceptance and peace, and perhaps answer questions family members are not comfortable or knowledgeable in answering?

I wonder if all this hoopla is about parents or adults in authority not being comfortable in having frank conversations regarding gender, who to love, how to love yourself and someone else, with young people?

I would like to ask the question regarding school libraries in this province, “Is there a section for LGBTQIA2s+ reading material within middle, junior or senior high schools? If there is not, there should be.

Another question I ask is, “Are there enough school librarians in this province who vet the materials coming through?

According to the Alberta Teachers’ Association website article ‘Are we on a slippery slope toward book bans’ by Kristine Wilkinson, ATA News editor in chief, “Alberta schools can’t even staff librarians anymore. Chronic underfunding has left many schools without the very people trained to guide students through the literary landscape. That’s the real crisis the government should be addressing.”

Wilkinson and I both agree that reading opens our minds and sparks empathy.

Have a Meowtastic Day and keep reading!

Linda Tooth is a part-time communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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