Oregon school districts pull out of reading contest over transgender book
Two Oregon school districts are cancelling their participation in a state reading competition due to organizers’ inclusion of a “children’s book” about transgenderism. The annual Oregon Battle of the Books consists of students reading from a list of books, organizing into teams, and then competing in quizzes about the books’ content. This year, however, a group of Hermiston School District principals decided that third, fourth, and fifth graders should not participate, the Oregonian reported . The Cascade School District concurred soon after. A third, Bend-La Pine Schools , is not pulling out but will begin requiring parental permission for elementary-level participants. At issue is the book “ George ” by self-described "queer activist" Alex Gino , whose titular main character is a 10-year-old boy who feels like a girl and starts calling himself “Melissa.” In 2015, the Scholastic Corporation sent teachers and school librarians 10,000 copies in hopes “