Kent School District votes not to ban LGBTQ+ book in middle school

Kent School District votes against banning book

The Kent School Board voted not to ban a book from its middle school libraries.

COVINGTON, Wash. - The Kent School District decided not to ban an LGBTQ+ book during a school board meeting Wednesday night.

The board voted 2-1 to keep "Jack of Hearts (and other parts)" by L.C Rosen on library shelves at Cedar Heights Middle School.

Earlier in the school year, the school's librarian had introduced the book but was it pulled by the principal weeks later because of the sexual content in the book.

According to the author's website, this is the description of the book:

"Jack has a lot of sex—and he’s not ashamed of it. While he’s sometimes ostracized, and gossip constantly rages about his sex life, Jack always believes that "it could be worse."

But then, the worse unexpectedly strikes: When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for an online site, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters that attempt to force Jack to curb his sexuality and personality. Now it’s up to Jack and his best friends to uncover the stalker—before their love becomes dangerous.

Ground-breaking and page-turning, Jack of Hearts (and other parts) celebrates the freedom to be oneself, especially in the face of adversity."

The book was not required but was featured in the library.

There were several school board meetings leading up to Wednesday night's vote in an effort by the librarian in an appeal to reinstate the book back on shelves.

The ACLU had also responded about the book:

"The fact that the only book in question that is being removed happens to be an LGBTQ+ themed books is blatant discrimination."