Democrat school board president eschews Bible, takes oath of office on pornographic LGBT book

Karen Smith defended the pornographic 'Flamer' but admitted she has never actually read the book.

By Matt Lamb

DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania (LifeSiteNews) — A school board president took her oath of office on a stack of books that included a pornographic LGBT book instead of the custom of using a Bible.

Karen Smith put her hand on top of a stack of books that included “Flamer,” a sexually explicit book to start her new term with the Central Bucks Board of School Directors on Dec. 4.

She also included “Night” by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in the stack. Another book was “Lily and Dunkin” about a gender-confused student. Smith said she has not actually read “Flamer” but defended students having access to it. “The graphic novel includes characters discussing pornography, erections, masturbation, penis size, and an illustration that depicts naked teenage boys,” Fox News reported.

The school board has been a source of battles over the appropriateness of including sexually explicit books for children to access. A group called “Woke PA” has a list of books it says are inappropriate for kids, including the book “Flamer.”

Smith said he opposed “banning books,” a term often used to refer to ensuring minors are not accessing inappropriate content.

“Banning books and supportive symbols is wrong and does nothing to address real issues our district is facing, like learning loss, teachers/staff shortages, and lack of mental health supports,” she wrote on her campaign website. “This struggle and challenge has only strengthened my resolve to continue my work defending and advocating for the public schools I love, and more importantly, our students.”

Many parents and citizens have raised concerns about children being exposed to sexually explicit content. In multiple instances, school boards have ironically asked residents not to read from the same books available to students due to concerns about the content.

In 2021, the Orange County (Florida) School Board had police remove one speaker who was reading from a sexually explicit book called “Gender Queer” to protest high schoolers having access to it.

In late August, “dozens of parents read explicit excerpts from books” in front of the Indian River County School Board in Florida to protest their inclusion in the schools, as reported by Florida’s Voice. The board repeatedly asked the parents to stop reading from the various inappropriate books, implicitly acknowledging the content was not appropriate.

The Dearborn Public School District in Michigan canceled a meeting after backlash against sexually explicit content. The city’s Muslim population turned out en masse to speak out against the immoral content.