North Hunterdon-Voorhees keeps “Let’s Talk About It” on high school library shelves

A room speckled in red sweatshirts and multi-colored shirts pack a North Hunterdon-Voorhees BOE meeting people line up to speak during public comment. The room is gray and 100-plus participants of the meeting face the board of education’s 11 members plus other leadership, included a student representative and school lawyer.

After a year of harassment and book ban threats, North Hunterdon High School librarian Martha Hickson is fighting back, and so are her students and their parents.

In a 7-4 vote in May, Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human is no longer up to a board of education vote for banning at North Hunterdon-Voorhees (North) Regional High School’s library.

The board meeting was an inflection point on the rise in fascism in New Jersey schools and the ways Christian extremism and white nationalism has infiltrated public schools with misinformation, say activists and students.

Let’s Talk About It, the literature that’s gotten everyone talking, is a sex and relationship education book written by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, and is backed by the “most up-to-date information.” The two authors wrote the book — knowing science will evolve over time — as a guide to teenagers’ relationships from that moment forward of their sexual and social development.

The topic of obscenity was the focus for a minority of adults in the room. However, most students, and supporting adults in North Hunterdon-Voorhees, spoke against this idea, against fascism, and for intellectual freedom. Commenters also spoke for the protection of the North Hunterdon-Voorhees school librarian, Martha Hickson.

Hickson is the 2023 Librarian of the Year recipient from the New Jersey Library Association. She has been thrust into the media spotlight for defending books like Let’s Talk About It and against censorship in New Jersey school libraries.

​​This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, and Let’s Talk About It were all threatened with banning last year. At the time, the school board voted to reject a resolution to ban the five books, reported Out In Jersey.

Nevertheless, the looming threat of book bans appeared to remain.

“On top of all that,” said one student to the board, “your librarian Martha Hickson was harassed and threatened for having this book in the library. By banning it, you are teaching [people] that that is okay; that they are allowed to harass and threaten your staff to get what they want.”

The student described their experience with censorship as central to anti-LGBTQ ideology by targeting “books inclusive of queerness” and the safety of libraries for students.

“Most students, and supporting adults in North Hunterdon-Voorhees, spoke against this [obscenity] idea, against fascism, and for intellectual freedom.”

“But even you aren’t safe from the consequences of your actions,” the student continued. “Nobody survives the monster that eats and destroys. Once it’s finished with all the people you shove to the front of the line, it will swallow you whole too because all blood tastes the same to fascism.”

Students went to the podium to tell the board that obscenity is the disinformation, and in some cases, misinformation driving some book bans home. For example, one student said that Let’s Talk About It meets the three requirements of the Miller Test — the primary legal test for determining whether expression constitutes obscenity.

“Furthermore, a book aiding teens and their development as individuals, as people in society, showered in positive reviews,” the student said, “can hardly be considered lacking value.”

This hasn’t stopped anti-LGBTQ activists as far as meeting attendees were concerned.

Michael Gottesman, founder of Jersey Public Education Coalition, spoke about people moving or traveling to New Jersey from Moms for Liberty, Center for Garden State Families, and members of Turning Point USA, who he says are just some of the organizations behind book bans and anti-LGBTQ curriculum and policy.

“I received nothing for speaking, but the faces that appear here — meeting after meeting — have monetized their appearances,” said Gottesman to the board. “So think about what’s really going on here. There are actors — beyond those speaking in this room — that are really pushing this, and they don’t represent your parents.”

Gottesman was speaking about Rev. Gregory Quinlan’s monetization of censorship and school board appearances. Quinlan didn’t get time to speak at the podium, but is the founder of Center for Garden State Families. The anti-LGBTQ, Christian extremist nonprofit brought in about $85,000 in donations in 2022 with an executive salary of $60,000 to one individual, Harry Quinlan, according to tax filings.

“Many of you heard of Pastor John Amanchukwu. He’ll come and appear if you pay him $10-to-$20,000 and you pay his first -class plane ticket,” Gottesman said, referring to a March Old Bridge Board of Education meeting where Policy 5756 was abolished after public comment.
Amanchukwu — employed by white nationalist organization TPUSA — was escorted out of the Old Bridge meeting for inappropriate language in front of minors and members of the public.

More recently, Garden State activists like Hickson are fighting fascist ideology through legislation.

On Thursday, June 6, after hours of testimony, an Assembly committee approved the Freedom to Read Act, which “establishes requirements for library material in public school libraries and public libraries; protects school library staff members and librarians.”

Hickson’s professionalism and expertise has been put into question many times, including last month.

This passing is correlated to the ongoing bullying of Hickson and attempts at book bans.

State Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis and Sen. Andrew Zwicker introduced the bill at the beginning of the legislative session after learning what Hickson had faced while taking requests to ban books from the school library — requests that she denied.

As a result, Hickson’s professionalism and expertise has been put into question many times, including last month. Steven Piontek of Union Township, for instance, started his public comment with a definition of the word “obscenity” before saying “I think we have a much bigger problem than the books being there. I think we have to ask how they got there in the first place, what education professional allowed this to slip past?”

Yet, instead of defending herself, Hickson defended the students. “There are others that wish to have their voices heard tonight, but are unable to be here due to lack of transportation, National Honor Society inductions, the pressures of upcoming AP exams. I’m speaking, of course, about the students you serve. It’s a great matter of concern that students have been shut out of the decision making process,” said Hickson.

Hickson raised her students’ voices up. One student wrote to Hickson: “Don’t ban this book. It helps those who don’t know about the topic and aren’t comfortable talking to their family about it. It helps them understand emotions and thoughts that are normal at this age, as well as giving clear, accessible information that is backed up as opposed to what they hear at school, which can be wrong or not healthy.”

Editor’s Note: North Hunterdon-Voorhees High School students’ names were redacted for students’ safety.