Board rejects push to ban 2 books from SLO County school library
Two controversial books were at the heart of a contentious debate at a Lucia Mar school board meeting Tuesday night, where some parents demanded the titles be removed from the Arroyo Grande High School library.
The books in question — “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “Push” by Sapphire — were accused by community members of containing content inappropriate for high school students.
“Gender Queer” is an award-winning graphic novel and memoir that follows nonbinary author Maia Kobabe’s coming-of-age journey and contains sexual content. The story of “Push” follows an illiterate Black teenager growing up in Harlem who is sexually abused by her father and deals with themes like rape and abuse, according to its description on Apple Books.
“Push” had never been checked out of the library, while “Gender Queer” had been checked out a total of 3 times, a district official said during the meeting. Neither were required reading in any course.
Two community members filed appeals with the board after a district review committee decided to keep both books in the library following initial challenges.
The appellants asked the school board to override the committee’s decision.
However, others who showed up at Tuesday’s meeting argued the books should remain in the school library to preserve students’ freedom to choose what they read and align with California law that requires schools to keep a collection reflective of diverse identities.
The school board ultimately voted 4-3 to keep each book in the library’s collection.
Why do parents want books removed?
Paul Masters, an Arroyo Grande resident and father of two Lucia Mar graduates, filed the appeal for the board to re-examine “Gender Queer.”
In his appeal, he described the book as “graphic and vulgar.” He also noted that the district’s response to the initial challenge against the book was the date of Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah.
“Don’t you find that an irony?” he wrote in the appeal documents. He also described the book as “child abusing material.”
Masters was given 10 minutes at the start of the discussion to make a case for the appeal. During that speech, he held up scans of imagery from the graphic novel that he found disturbing. He also shouted, “Praise God,” on multiple occasions throughout the presentation.
One image Masters held up depicted naked, Greek-inspired characters with one character reaching a hand toward the other’s genitals. In the book, the scene is described as a fantasy based on Plato’s “Symposium” as the narrator struggles with sexuality.
Masters said he didn’t object to the subject of the book, which is about queer identities and adolescence, but instead to the imagery and sexual content it contained.
He also took issue with the fact that a student representative was included on the committee that initially reviewed the book.
Masters rejected the idea that he was advocating for censorship or book bans, and instead argued he was solely interested in protecting students in the district.
As for the appeal to remove “Push” from the library, appellant Gary Adams wrote in his filing that he opposed the book’s “graphic sexual content, depictions of incest and violent themes.”
He also wrote that the fact that the book is written in broken English, due to the main character’s illiteracy, diverges it from standard educational material.
During his speech to the board, Adams relayed his opinion, describing the book as “pornographic” and urging parents of the district to regain local control and oppose “indoctrination” in schools.
Tuesday night wasn’t the first time the Lucia Mar district has heard pushback against the Arroyo Grande High School library’s collection.
Former Arroyo Grande mayor candidate and activist Gaea Powell has advocated publicly against books in the district’s high school library, including “Gender Queer.” She previously described such books to The Tribune as “pornographic.”
Powell was also at Tuesday night’s meeting, where she was approached by security after exceeding the 1-minute limit for public comment.
During her comment, she read sexually explicit passages from “Push” about the character being abused and impregnated by her father.
After going past her time limit, Powell turned around from the pulpit and began yelling to the crowd.
“This is what’s in your schools, do something,” she told the audience, garnering some applause, as board president Colleen Martin warned her that she had used up her time and was disrupting the meeting.
“Shame on you,” Powell said, turning back around to address the board. “... What is wrong with you socialist psychopaths? These are children.”
Why other parents want books to stay in library
While many community members showed up to oppose the controversial books Tuesday night, others turned out to support their inclusion in the high school library’s collection.
Several speakers said including the books in the library’s collection is important to reflect diverse perspectives and realities. Some speakers said that a student reading one of the books may find their own story reflected inside the pages and learn that they are not alone.
Some attendees held up signs in the audience, saying the efforts to remove books were a waste of tax dollars or comparing the efforts to book bans by the Nazis.
Paige DeRosa, who is a third-year studying education, spoke in support of keeping the books.
“I stand before you today as a future educator advocating for literary freedom in schools,” DeRosa said. “It is our duty to allow our students to broaden their academic horizons and ensure inclusive learning environments in which no voice is silenced.”
Speaker Cynthia Brown told the board that books like “Gender Queer” help readers develop empathy for others and “help people feel whole and seen.”
“We’re all different,” Brown said. “We come from different cultures. Some are religious, some aren’t. We have to accept each other and try to learn to love each other.”
Board decides to keep controversial books in library
After around two hours of presentations and public comment from about 45 speakers, the board members deliberated the issue.
Trustee Mike Fuller spoke in support of overturning the committee’s decision and removing the books from the library. He said the books promote “high-risk behaviors,” and he worried that a student who might check out one of the books could leave it in a place where it could be accessed by younger siblings.
He added his opinion that the books did not have educational value.
Trustee Donna Kandel said the board had a responsibility to ensure no books were removed based on a specific group and needed a clear, unambiguous reason to overturn committee decisions, which she said she didn’t have.
Kandel ultimately made the first move to uphold the committee’s decision to keep the book “Gender Queer” in the library. That decision passed in a 4-3 vote, with trustees Fuller, Eilene Pham and Andrea Naemi-Vergne opposing.
The board later voted to keep “Push” in the library by the same margins, after rejecting Fuller’s motion to remove it.
But that wasn’t the end of the talk of controversial politics at the Lucia Mar meeting Tuesday night.
During comment at the conclusion of the meeting, the board heard a familiar proposal — Assembly candidate Shannon Kessler once again brought forward a resolution supporting fairness in girls sports for the board’s consideration.
Kessler proposed a similar resolution last school year, which got support from community members who opposed the inclusion of trans girls on girls sports teams.
“I will always defend our daughters,” Kessler said to the board Tuesday night. “I will never be silent when cowardice masquerades as compassion.”
The Lucia Mar board rejected the resolution in May. The board did not take any action on Kessler’s comment Tuesday night.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM.
