Newtown Board of Education votes unanimously not to ban LGBTQ books

NEWTOWN, C.T. - The Board of Education in Newtown has voted unanimously against removing two LGBTQ-themed books from a library. 

The two books up for debate are "Blankets" by Craig Thompson and "Flamer" by Mike Curato.

"Blankets" tells the story of an abused young man raised in an Evangelical Christian family, who finds his first true love. 

"Flamer" tells the story of a Filipino teenager who is bullied in school, and eventually realizes he is gay.  

Two Newtown school board members, both Republicans, have resigned following a meeting a few weeks ago, where the two voted in favor of banning the books. 

Seniors from the class of 2023 showed up at a school board meeting on Thursday night to make their voices heard and try to change hearts and minds.

"We have these books, and we will not be letting them be taken away from us," one student said.

Despite the unanimous vote, there is a caveat. If a parent chooses to not have their child check out a specific book, they can put in a request to do so. The school district hasn’t said how it would be implemented, but it plans to put it in place by the next school year.