Christians and Muslims are joining together to fight against what they rightfully see as sexually explicit materials being offered to young students in Dearborn, Mich.
The Washington Post reported that outrage over the sexually explicit content in some LGBTQ books placed in school libraries within the district began with Christians who then turned and “rallied the significant Muslim population” in the area to join with them in opposition.
Local Islamic leaders pushed their faithful into attending a Dearborn Public Schools meeting weeks in advance while using sermons as a platform to get urge Muslims to get active.
“Some of those books are completely inappropriate for our children to read,” noted Imam Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini of the Islamic Institute of America, one of the most prominent Muslims in Michigan. “Some of those books promote pornography. Some of them promote homosexuality. We don’t need this.”
The Post noted that hundreds of people attended a school board meeting this week and were outraged after finding out they would only be limited to three minutes of speaking time.
At one point, the meeting became so chaotic that Roxanne McDonald, the board president, suspended proceedings and rescheduled for Thursday.
Those who were protesting brought signs, some of which said, “Keep your porno books to yourself,” “If democracy matters, we’re the majority,” and “Protect the children,” the last one written in five languages, the Post added.
Activist Hassan Aoun told the Detroit Free Press that the school district “disrespected” those who attended. He responded by leading chants of “Vote them out!”
Board members banned participants in Thursday’s meeting from bringing signs into the room. The Detroit Free press claimed that “some of the posters and signs included homophobic and derogatory remarks toward gay people in English and Arabic, using Christian and Islamic references.”
Christian and Muslim parents have joined forces to protest a Dearborn Public Schools meeting in Michigan to protest the inclusion of "woke" LGBTQ+ books in schools that contain sexually explicit material. pic.twitter.com/5G0lz9Os8O
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 12, 2022
School board officials said in response to outrage over canceling the initial meeting that participants were violating the city’s fire codes.
“Despite the large crowd on Monday, the regular board meeting initially proceeded in an orderly fashion,” the district said Wednesday. “Some of those who came for the meeting used overflow rooms set up to accommodate the large crowd. However, after about 80 minutes, when the time came to begin public comments, many of the hundreds of people in attendance began yelling about the three-minute time restriction and the request that many of those not planning to submit public comments leave the packed room to bring it back within the fire code limits.”
The Post added: “It was the most recent clash in Dearborn between parents who say their children are being exposed to sexually explicit books in school and educators who say they’ve updated a system to assess materials to make sure they’re appropriate for students. The tension mirrors the growing antagonism between schools and parents that has flared up around the country in recent years, fueled by pandemic-related school closures and debates over teachings on race and gender.”
