KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — New amendments to a Tennessee state law that target some library books in schools is the topic of controversy among educators, parents and students.
Knox County Schools is required to follow this new ruling as state law, which changed the previous policy that referred to "The Miller Test" to determine if the value of the work as a whole outweighs the content considered obscene.
The new law outlaws nudity of any kind, descriptions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse.
The law also said any Local Education Agency, or school board, is subject to a loss of funding if a district or school keeps a "banned book" on the shelves. In a board meeting in August, the Knox County Schools Board of Education passed a policy revision to comply with state law.
WBIR chose five titles known to be in Knox County school libraries that are subject to controversy by the group “Knox County Moms for Liberty.” The group has been vocal in school board meetings and has created a list of books it consider explicit, asking for the district to take them off of the shelves and out of the hands of young students.
The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies Moms for Liberty as a "far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities" that opposes LGBTQ+ and racially-inclusive curricula. It has also advocated for book bans.
We asked KCS for more information regarding where these five titles were in schools and who checked them out.
The titles:
Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe
Gender Queer is a 2019 memoir that recounts the author's explorations of gender identity and sexuality from adolescence to adulthood, showing how they came to identify outside the gender binary and as a gender-queer person whose journey of self-discovery included experiences with sex.
Moms for Liberty and others have raised concerns about the book due to some of its graphic sexual content and the ideas of gender and sexuality.
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Fun Home is an autobiography and a graphic novel about Bechdel’s family. It discusses the impact that coming out as lesbian had on the protagonist's relationship with her family after her father killed himself.
In it, her father owns a funeral home, which they call the "fun home." In college, Allison comes out as lesbian and realizes her father was gay. The records WBIR requested did not find this book in KCS libraries.
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye is the first novel written by Morrison, the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize for literature. The story outlines the desires of an 11-year-old Black girl who wants to have the "bluest eyes" in hopes she can meet societal standards of being beautiful. In her opinion, that means being white.
It was published in 1970 and is set in the early 1940s. It is considered an American class and an "essential account of the African American experience after the Great Depression" by the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age novel told through the perspective of Charlie, a shy teenager as he navigates his freshman year of high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The book has also been made into a movie, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.
It was published in 1999 and explores the impact of mental illness, child sexual trauma and relationships on young people.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale is a critically acclaimed dystopian novel often taught in English classrooms. The novel explores a world where women are forced to have children for the totalitarian government. It was published in 1985 as a story about rebellion and resistance in the face of a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime.
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" was checked out the most of the available titles on Knox County Schools' shelves. It can be found in all Knox County high schools, except Austin-East High School. It's also in four middle schools — Whittle Springs, Virtual and Special Day Schools, Farragut and Northwest Middle Schools. The book was checked out the most by Hardin Valley Academy students in the 2022-2023 school year, totaling nine times.
The book found the least across KCS libraries was "Gender Queer." There are four copies in high schools — West, Austin-East, Karns and L&N STEM Academy. The book was checked out a total of seven times in the last two years.
The Bluest Eye was checked out a total of 16 times. The title is in every high school in Knox County, with the exception of Career Magnet Academy. The book was checked out the most at Austin-East High School, with a total of 12 times during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.
There are 28 copies, including e-books, of The Handmaid’s Tale across Knox County high schools, with the exception of South Doyle High School. The book was checked out a total of 19 times and was checked out the most at L&N Stem a total of seven times over two years.
In total, out of the 60,000 Knox County students, these five "banned books" were checked out a total of 90 times over two school years.
We brought this information back to Knox County Moms for Liberty and shared this data with their treasurer, Sherri Garrett. She told us one of the titles she was most concerned about was Gender Queer.
"Even if one child has checked this book out in a two-year span, that's still one child too many," Garrett said. "They are targeting teenagers who are already going through issues with puberty and hormone changes. I think that confuses children and, and I think it's alarming."