GOP candidates join Dearborn residents in protest over LGBTQ books in schools

LGBTQ speakers and others who voiced support for their community were loudly and repeatedly booed and jeered at a Dearborn Public Schools board meeting Thursday night as Republican candidates attended to show their support for protesters opposing certain LGBTQ-oriented books in schools they believe are too explicit for children.

Early in the meeting that drew a packed crowd of hundreds, school board President Roxanne McDonald expressed concern that LGBTQ students "do not feel safe" because of the "hostility and anger that has recently erupted." Other teachers and speakers echoed her concerns.

More than 600 people jammed the auditorium and an overflow area at Stout Middle School in Dearborn for a meeting that was reconvened after a Monday meeting at its usual location in an administrative center was shut down by hundreds of angry protesters who took over the gathering as board members walked out. Thursday's meeting was held at the middle school to accommodate a larger crowd. The school district told people not to bring posters, signs, backpacks and bags.

Before the meeting, some leaders including Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin beseeched the community to act orderly and not make the city look bad. But their efforts didn't appear to work as every LGBTQ speaker who delivered remarks was booed by the crowd. Anti-gay rhetoric was again heard as LGBTQ people were shouted down and mocked in some cases. In contrast, the crowd applauded speakers who railed against the books. At one point, the crowd chanted "Shame on you!" at the board.

When Dylan Wegela, a high school teacher in Dearborn, expressed concern in his remarks that posters for a gay-straight alliance in a Dearborn school were being vandalized and torn down, a member of the crowd shouted out: "Good!"

"I want this to be a space where everybody is welcome," he said of his classroom. "But students don't feel safe in our school. Look at Monday. .. Our staff isn't even comfortable enough to be out in public."

The crowd jeered as he spoke, with McDonald asking the protesters to show respect to the speaker.

More:LGBTQ and faith communities struggle for unity in Dearborn, Hamtramck

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Wegela then unfurled an LGBTQ Pride flag.

"I should be able to hang this flag in my classroom tomorrow with no problems at all," he said.

The crowd booed him.

Jackson Wagner, a lifelong resident who is gay, was booed after giving a heartfelt speech about his struggles facing discrimination because of his sexual orientation. He called for unity between gays and Muslims, but the Muslims in the crowd did not appear to agree with him.

"I've lived here my entire life," he said to the board. "And I'm a gay man. It saddens me to see our community torn asunder, to see friends turn on one another. Diversity has always been Dearborn's strength. Let's never forget that. ... I want everyone here to imagine a time when you felt like everyone around you hated your for who you are. I'm not Muslim, and most of you aren't gay. But all of us know what it is like to be mistreated by people who know little about you. ... The far right in this country despises us all. What I'm asking for is that everyone have compassion and consider the harm you do to the most vulnerable among us when you stigmatize their very existence."

Jojo Gremel, who is non-binary, was also loudly booed as they spoke about their experiences.

"Being LGBTQ+ is not a choice," they said. "It is so hard ... People hate you for the very thing out of your control. People who don't know the first thing about you, only that you're different from them, so you must be evil. I honestly don't want to be here, but I know what it's like to have been a Queer and trans student and now a staff member."

Gremel said they faced transphobia while attending school and now "I refuse to let other children be traumatized in the same way I was."

There were long lines and security checkpoints as many waited to get into the meeting, which featured speeches by Republican nominee for Secretary of State Kristina Karamo and the Republican nominee for Attorney General Matthew DePerno, both endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

State Rep. Matthew Maddock, an influential Republican leader in Michigan whose wife is co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party and has praised Muslims and Christians in Dearborn working together against certain books and educational materials, also attended.

At times, the meeting appeared to be a political rally, with the crowd booing loudly for Democrats such as U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, accusing them of being in favor of LGBTQ books the protesters believe are offensive and violate their religion.

DePerno criticized the board, accusing them of allowing a speaker to "disparage the Muslim faith." Karamo said "parents do not send their kids to school to explore their sexuality," as the crowd cheered in approval of her remarks. Both she and DePerno were loudly applauded and met with potential voters in the hallway as supporters handed out campaign fliers for DePerno. Also on Thursday, the GOP nominee for governor, Tudor Dixon, gave a statement to Axios expressing support for the Dearborn protesters. And a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted tweets in support of the Muslim protesters. Several conservative websites and social media accounts praised the Muslims of Dearborn for attacking the books.

A hail of boos and shouting rained down on Dearborn activist Brian Stone, who is gay, as he spoke about the importance of having diverse characters in the books that children read so they can feel accepted.

"You're not trying to ban a book," Stone said. "You're trying to ban gay people. That's what this is all about."

Anti-gay slurs and a cry of "You will not ruin our kids!" came from the crowd as Stone spoke. For years, Stone has been outspoken in defending Muslims in Dearborn from attacks by conservatives who accused Dearborn of operating under Islamic law. He penned an essay six years ago in Huffington Post praising the Muslim community of Dearborn.

But as he spoke, the crowd grew increasingly angry as he talked the importance of LGBTQ books.

Turning to the crowd, Stone said: "You hate gay people. And it's obvious, because look at how you behave when one gay person speaks."

Religion and ethnicity came up during remarks made by speakers. Most of the crowd appeared to be Arab American Muslims, who make up a sizable percentage of the city, where 47% of residents have Arab ancestry, according to the census. There were also smaller numbers of teachers, union representatives, and LGBTQ people who attended. A small number of conservative Christians who support the efforts of Muslims to battle LGBTQ educational materials also attended.

While most of the Muslims in the crowd were hostile to the LGBTQ speakers, there were some who spoke in support.

Rawan Hider, a law student at Michigan State University and Dearborn resident who said she is Lebanese American and Muslim, said the books that Dearborn Schools removed deal with important issues facing women and LGBTQ people.

The district has removed for review six books from circulation: "Push" by Sapphire, "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson, "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold, "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell, "Red, White and Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston and "This Book is Gay" by Juno Dawson.

"For better or for worse, books are the gateway to independent critical thought, imagination and understanding of differing experiences," Hider said to the board. "And to force a ban on books that will 100% benefit students who identify and resonate with the themes we've talked about tonight, is an act of selfishness and intolerance."

Hider said many Arab Americans in Dearborn seem to have forgotten that they were the ones being demonized not long ago. On Monday, Shahin, the police chief of Dearborn, said "the eyes of the nation are on" Dearborn, urging the crowd to act civil.

"Our chief of police was not mistaken on Monday when he said the eyes of the nation are on us," Hider said. "What have we shown the nation? We have shown that we, as a minority population of primarily Middle Eastern Muslim Americans, have forgotten our own struggle with hatred, discrimination, prejudice and violence. We have forgotten the signs that were held up against us. The isolation, the pain and fear we have all felt because those harming us couldn't take a step back to see who we were as people. I urge the Dearborn community to please reflect on this when they put up the signs."

Hider appeared to be referring to signs with anti-gay rhetoric that were held up during Monday's meeting. A couple of similar signs were seen at Thursday's meeting, but not as many since the school district had asked that people not bring signs and posters.

Hider said there are LGBTQ residents of Dearborn.

"These books have been deemed pornographic, against good Muslim values," but the book's themes "do not exempt the Dearborn community," she said. "Despite the strong religious presence within this community, that does not take away the fact that there are still young adults out here in the Dearborn public school system who are struggling to come to terms with their sexuality."

Hassan Chami, who appears to be one of the leaders of the protesters, shouted "Shame on you" twice at McDonald. Chami, founder of the Suhoor Festival in Dearborn during the Islamic month of Ramadan, spoke about religion during his remarks.

"I also want to say that the Founding Fathers fought for freedom of religion," Chami said. "So on behalf of the Muslim community, I want to congratulate you on the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, which is this week."

Board members and Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said they're listening to the concerns of parents.

“We encourage our parents to work with the district if they have concerns about the age-appropriateness of particular items in our media centers," Maleyko said in statement Wednesday. "With nearly 500,000 books in our school libraries, it is possible something slipped in that shouldn’t be there, despite our best efforts. The proper procedure to remove books is to bring that title to the attention of the media specialist at your child’s school, so we can begin the Book Challenge process.”

But he added that “we will not promise to remove every book because we know different parents have different opinions about some materials."

In a statement Thursday, the district said it has revised its school guidelines to read in part: "Dearborn Public Schools believes that media materials containing graphic and/or gratuitous violence, sexual content, expletives, or hate speech, and without literary or educational merit should not be included in our school media centers."

As with Monday night's meeting, some teachers union leaders attended to show support for LGBTQ people.

In a joint statement, the American Federation of Teachers union said: "We stand united with the Dearborn LGBTQ community and all students, parents, educators, and staff over political division. We will never stop working hard for our students to ensure they have the best education possible and safe, supportive schools and classrooms.”

Contact Niraj Warikoo: [email protected] or Twitter @nwarikoo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GOP candidates join LGBTQ book opposition in Dearborn