Yesterday, I attended the Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) school board meeting to speak out against a pornographic book available to middle school students in Tampa. This Book is Gay (2015) features explicit instructions on anal and oral sex, hand jobs and how to use sex apps. The HCPS library catalog online shows that two copies of the book are available at Pierce Middle School – one copy is currently checked out.
During the public comments section of the meeting, I joined other concerned parents in taking the school board to task for their negligence. One mother, Julie Gebhards, has been persistently engaging the board for more than a year regarding numerous books that she says include pedophilia, masochistic sex, masturbation and incestuous, violent rape. Gebhards started investigating the books accessible to youth in the school system and ultimately pulled her three children out of HCPS because of what she found. Unfortunately, the board has largely ignored her, or provides only boilerplate answers that point to general policies.
“Following the breaking down of boundaries, [kids] become much more susceptible to a sex trafficking industry that preys on children and makes millions of dollars here in Hillsborough County.” she told the board last month. “This is poison that will forever plague a generation.”
Read the full story here.
The job of a free press is to inform the public and hold governments accountable for their actions. The Florida Standard is committed to exposing corruption in powerful places, including and especially when it impacts children. We take this responsibility very seriously and have already broken numerous important stories that the legacy media outlets neglected to investigate – because it didn’t fit their narrative.
With that said, every American has a responsibility to get involved and speak out against abuse of power. Fortunately, we still have more transparency in government than many other countries around the world. In addition to school board meetings, city and county council meetings are open to the public and allow for public comment. Make your voices heard.
Watch my full speech below:
A new book available in a Tampa middle school encouraged kids to go on adult sex apps and showed graphic sexual content. I spoke at the Hillsborough School Board meeting tonight to tell them we won’t stand for this. pic.twitter.com/DUnFd4TSNt
— Will Witt (@thewillwitt) August 31, 2022
If your concerns are being ignored, or you discover something that the public needs to know, I encourage you to let us know. Email us at tips@theflstandard.com.
Sincerely,
Will Witt, Editor-in-Chief
