Did you know reading a graphic novel with two people kissing can lead to a porn addiction? That’s the claim by Lanah Burkhardt, a 20 something-year-old who blames Scholastic and Raina Telgemeier‘s graphic novel Drama for her troubles. Burkhardt testified in front of the Conroe Independent School District that when she was 11, she read the graphic novel that included the phrase” a single kiss” and pictures of characters kissing, and that led her to seek out pleasure elsewhere including the internet.

Due to her porn addiction, Burkhardt argued the school district should bad Drama that features a picture characters kissing. She further stressed to ban Scholastic Book Fairs as a whole to protect kids. Think about the children!

Burkhardt got her way with the Conroe Independent School District who voted to restrict access to Drama for students before high school.

But, a report from The Messenger throws up some questions about Burkhardt and her motives.

Burkhardt works for Brave Books, a Conroe-based publishing company that sells books that are “Pro-God, Pro-America” and sees itself as an alternative to “the progressive agenda.” Brave Books also has an offshoot, SkyTree Book Fairs which is attempting to compete with Scholastic’s attacking the publishers inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and stories.

Burkhardt has attempted to scrub this info from the internet, including Twitter and LinkedIn, since it was revealed she works as a Public relations coordinator for Brave Books and also turns out she was homeschooled as well. Drama was released in 2012 and Burkhardt has been described as in her early 20s… so at least that lines up. When pressed as to what image caused Burkhardt her spiral, she has only denied those shown and as of this article yet to respond with specifics.

During the same meeting, SkyTree’s President Riley Lee and Brave Books’ CEO and founder Trent Talbot also spoke and urged the switch to SkyTree’s book fair from Scholastic.

This is just an example of a move by the right to restrict and ban access to books, often motivated by profits like this or the want to increase privatization of education from which those pushing the bans would profit. As has been shown, a dark money network is funding campaigns against “Critical Race Theory”, something not being taught in schools. This book banning is an off-shoot of that showing these pushes are about as natural as an oral bowel movement. The “movement” is being used as a wedge issue to whip up voters by the right. It attempts to pit parents vs. bureaucrats (and teachers and librarians), a match that’s unfortunately pretty easy to get traction on. The movement has been working for decades and continues the right-wing push to take over at the local level, first at the state and now even lower to get their regressive agenda passed which includes pulling school and library funding and funnel that into private ventures which remain widely unregulated.

You can read more about this current banning, including bounties paid to find “objectionable” material, here.