Dupage Policy Journal

Jim Devitt is finding himself drowned out by culture warriors.

Devitt – whose daughter graduated from Downers Grove South last year – is one of several parents who have attended and spoken out at recent Downers Grove School District Board meetings protesting 'Gender Queer,' a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe that includes illustrations of its characters engaging in oral sex.

Devitt, who ran for school board earlier this year, said he is disheartened by the left’s framing of  protests at the Nov. 15 board meeting as a “Proud Boys” sponsored event.

He said overlooked in the fracas were antifa members Devitt has accused of harassing him after making comments at school board meetings.

“Members of antifa were in the audience, and they had taken down names and pictures, and they posted pictures on social media,” Devitt told DuPage Policy Journal. “And in fact – the day or the next to the second day after the meeting – I got a harassing phone call about it. I don't know who it was from, but the police report was filed and they're doing an investigation.”

The Illinois General Assembly’s LGBT Caucus classified opposition to the book as “Proud Boys Led Censorship.”

“The left is focusing on the Proud Boys angle rather than talking about the kids and about how all this is affecting them. That's their focus because they know that it's a losing argument,” he said. 

“Me personally sitting at that meeting, I felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane,” Devitt said. “You know, everything is just spinning around at 200 miles an hour and you got two groups of people on opposite sides of the room pointing at each other. And nobody gives a damn about the kids, you know? And after listening to some of the speakers, I went, I kind of thought to myself that night I thought, this is crazy.”

Parents across the country have pointed to Kobabe’s work as gratuitously sexual and unnecessary for school children. Many parents such as those at CSD99, have questioned its place in school libraries.

Devitt said the General Assembly members also overlooked the parents' message that they do not want any pornography in the library regardless of sexual orientation.

“The left tries to paint everybody with a broad brush and say, you're all homophobic,” he said. “No, we're not. We just don't want kids exposed to these type of images. You know, there's a reason that they have a rating system on movies. So, you know, kind of the same thing here. The things that kids ... shouldn't have such easy access to.”