14 reasons why the Monroeville Library Pride book display is not the actual sexual threat to children – Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

14 reasons why the Monroeville Library Pride book display is not the actual sexual threat to children – Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

Monroeville library put up a book display for Pride month. Inappropriate intervention from Monroeville Municipal Council members (think City Council without a City) let library leaders to take it down a week early. Residents voices concerns at a municipal council meeting on July 7, 2026. Members of Council defended their actions to pressure the library about internal decisions and/or impose their personal anti-LGBTQ views on a municipal entity. It does not seem anyone took responsibility for this dangerous precedent. PublicSource posted a list of other municipalities with similar disputes Pine-Richland School District, 2023. A policy about school library purchases was implemented by the School Board. In 2026, it was repealed. Blackhawk School District, 2023. A policy about school library purchases was implemented by the School Board. It was eventually reversed. Hempfield Area School District, 2023. Parents challenged two books. Policies amended. Still active. Norwin School District, 2023. A book was challenged. School Board voted to keep the book. Moon Township, 2021. Book was challenged, School Board appointed new trustees. Situation active. Obviously, these challenges and policies are based upon ignorance and fear. It is appropriate that residents of a community respond at the ballot box by replacing bigots with people who reflect the values of the entire community. The danger comes from capitulation. I still don’t understand who at Monroeville’s library gave the okay to take down the display. And why. That choice set a terrible precedent. Municipal council should not be involved in these decisions. Librarians are trained professionals who can make appropriate decisions about displays. There are internal procedures to address concerns. They were ignored. That sets a terrible precedent. There’s a difference between a School Board making decisions about a School Library and a Municipal Government making decisions about a Municipal Library (that has its own board.) Monroeville’s elected bigots won this round. I’d expect other municipalities to follow suit. Thanks, Monroeville. The other significant issue is the perpetuation that any book or library material with LGBTQ+ content or themes is dangerous – it promotes a lifestyle, overrules parental authority over exposure, promotes sex, and is surely tied to grooming. These are horrible stereotypes that plague every LGBTQ+ person. As an LGBTQ+ person who was sexually abused and groomed by a family member – a cisgender heterosexual white male family member who preyed on other in my family – I find this offensive and also a laughable way to address actual sexual violation of students. When I speak with my childhood friends about the educators in the West Mifflin Area School District during the 70’s and 80s, we all say the same names – which teaches fondled girls, manipulated grades to get access to them as tutors, initiated sexual contact, emotionally manipulated us. We knew that girl who went behind closed doors with a band director wasn’t in a healthy relationship, she was being abused. We knew hiring a 20 something teacher who portrayed the “male lead” in a video version of a Madonna song was a poor decision. We knew about the priests, uncles, creepy neighbors, jerk “assistant managers” at local jobs, and more. I have never heard anyone point to a book as part of this problem. Books helped us escape, heal, find community and more. They were part of the solution. Monroeville, for example, had a 53-year-old teacher accused of groping a 14-year-old student in 2016. He pled guilty to lesser charges, lost his teaching license, and spent three years on probation. His name is Franklin Joseph Vigo. I did a quick survey of the districts mentioned in the article and found an array of teachers/coaches raping students. This barely scratches the surface and doesn’t include the myriad of other districts. I did not find a single case of a LGBTQ+ predator, nor of an adult sexually assaulting a same sex student. No mention of library books or class curriculum. It could not be more clear that teachers should not text, touch, or rape a student. No rationalization in the world about being in love, etc matters. So maybe the Monroeville Borough Council and others are literally ignoring that the call is coming from inside the house. Not maybe, they are definitely doing that. Sexual abuse of youth is so prevalent in our society – approximately 10% of students are preyed upon by educators or other school employees – that reported incident continue to climb in spite of the clear “don’t do this” approach. That’s four to five million children. Sexual predation of children under 18 is a horrific problem in our society. The answers lie with better policies and protections, tighter screenings, listening to kids who report, raising awareness of warning signs, and actively building culture where sexualizing children is inviolate. I doubt with a rapist as a our President we are heading in that direction. But misplaced blame on LGBTQ+ culture only hurts children. Raping a student in a car parked in the school parking lot during your lunch break and emotionally abusing him to think you are in love is a problem.Taking away books fails to protect students and creates a straw man approach to policy. So by all means, boards, get to work. you are failing students. Keep in mind that it is not just educators who are the predators, it can be family members, neighbors, religious figures, other students, and more. There’s no dearth of information. 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys are sexually assaulted every year. The kids also have in common being in school. We all want children to be safe. But the threat is coming from the teachers and coaches, not the library books. Pay attention. Pine-Richland In 2023 a student was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior to other students. The situation was not properly addressed, so the parents filed a lawsuit that as of March 2026, there has been no resolution or protection of students. In 2025, a former athletic trainer, was changed with multiple counts of sexual abuse after he recorded students in the locker rooms. His name is Samuel Fischer. He did not have appropriate clearances to work with children, Pine Richland shifted responsibility to the third party contractor overseeing Fischer. In 2016, a Pine-Richland basketball coach was convicted of sexual assault of a 16-year-old student. He also tried to contact her AFTER charges were filed. His name was Cliff Foster. Blackhawk In 2022, a former substitute teacher and coach was charged with over 200 counts of child pornography. His name is Joshua Andrews. In 2010, a Hempfield High School teacher was convicted for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student. His name is Michael Palmer. In 2017, a high school teacher was put on paid leave for having inappropriate communication with a 16-year-old student. Norwin In 2005, a teacher was charged with inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old student. His name is Charles Joseph Constantine. In 2011, photos of Norwin high female students were published on pornographic websites. In 2017, an Army National Guard recruiter was charged with targeting students with sexual language after he was assigned to the school. In 2018, a high school teacher was charged with inappropriately texting a student. In 2021, a music teacher ‘allowed’ her husband – with a conviction of child sexual abuse – to volunteer for her musical. His name is Brad Geyer. Moon In 2008, a teacher was convicted of sexually assaulting and communicating with a 14-year-old student. Her name was Beth Ann Chester. In 2026, the Moon Head Swim Coach was suspended due to unspecified misconduct listed in a registry as physical or sexual.