FORT MILL, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is requesting an investigation by the South Carolina Department of Education into the Fort Mill School District for carrying a book he referred to as carrying "sexually explicit and obscene" images.
The book, an autobiography presented in comic book form entitled "Gender Queer: A Memoir" details the experiences of author Maia Kobabe, who identifies as nonbinary. Kobabe's book discusses many experiences from dealing with childhood crushes to coming out as nonbinary to family, according to Simon & Schuster.
In a letter to the South Carolina Superintendent of Education, McMaster said he has heard that parents were "required to petition" the school district to remove the copy.
"If school personnel had performed even a cursory review in this particular instance, it would have revealed that the book contains sexually explicit and pornographic depictions, which easily meet or exceed the statutory definition of obscenity," McMaster says, in part, in the letter. "Thus, I am concerned that further examination may identify additional instances in which inappropriate materials have been introduced into our State’s public schools."
McMaster said after personally reviewing examples of depictions he was provided, he was "shocked and disappointed." He's now calling on the Department of Education to investigate whether any policy across the state would allow obscene material to be in South Carolina schools. McMaster is also calling on the department to develop or improve a statewide process to review and approve materials that are made available to students.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to the Fort Mill School District for more information on potential complaints. In a statement, district leaders said it has received a complaint regarding the book via its standard complaint process, and the review process on the material has already begun.
Further, the district said the book has been pulled from circulation in both high school media centers and the online catalog while the review is underway.
In a statement to WCNC Charlotte, the South Carolina Department of Education said when it reached out to the superintendent of the Fort Mill district, the district had already started the review process for the book. The book was also brought up at a statewide meeting of district superintendents, and districts were advised to review media center materials.
The department also said books located in South Carolina school libraries and media centers are selected by local school and district officials, not the state instructional materials process. The department said it believes the Fort Mill district failed to properly vet the book in this instance.
"When the SCDE opened up the statewide review of state funded and adopted instructional materials this week, which do not include locally adopted library books, we reiterated the need for districts to review their own adopted materials," the statement reads, in part.