The Mass. teacher who had the cops called on her over ‘Gender Queer’ has an attorney and wants answers

One month after a police officer visited her classroom in search of the book “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a Great Barrington teacher is looking for answers about a mysterious complaint that brought the national book censorship debate home to Western Mass.

Through her attorney, the teacher sent a letter to town and school officials on Friday requesting an independent investigation into the Dec. 8 incident, “including, without limitation, determining how and by whom a criminal complaint was initiated.” 

According to the Great Barrington Police Department, someone visited the local police station on Dec. 8 to express concerns about a copy of “Gender Queer” being made available in a classroom at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School. They pointed specifically to illustrations depicting two characters engaging in oral sex, according to police. 

Officials have not publicly named the complainant, who requested anonymity “for fear of retaliation,” according to a Great Barrington police report. “They are known and identified by us,” Police Chief Paul Storti confirmed in an email to Boston.com.  

Author Maia Kobabe’s 2019 illustrated memoir explores an adolescent journey of gender and sexual identity. Amid nationwide book banning efforts that frequently target works by or about LGBTQ+ people, Kobabe’s work has emerged as a flashpoint and was even the most frequently challenged book in the country two years running, according to the American Library Association.

The copy of “Gender Queer” in question was part of the eighth-grade teacher’s classroom collection and wasn’t included in the curriculum, Boston.com reported last month.

What happened during the search? 

In addition to their concerns about “Gender Queer,” the complainant also reported “overhearing the same teacher telling students to ‘not tell their parents’ and that they observed a student sitting on the lap of the same teacher,” according to the police report. 

Great Barrington police opted to send a plainclothes officer by the school toward the end of the day. The school’s principal told police that the teacher hosts an LGBTQ+ meeting group in her classroom, and that doors are kept open during those meetings, according to the police report. 

“Additionally he was aware the group on occasion may suggest not talking to parents or others about what is discussed as if a student opens up they don’t want other kids in the group discussing that with others outside,” the report continued.

But the copy of “Gender Queer” wasn’t in the classroom when an officer stopped by.

“You’re welcome to remove it if you see it,” the teacher said in body-worn camera footage released by Great Barrington police. She suggested that another teacher might have borrowed it from her classroom. 

“It’s not something that is out for everybody,” she said. “It needs — this is special approval only.” 

The officer replied: “I mean, we could sit here and search every room and ask every teacher; I’d rather not go that route and disrupt everything over one book that we’re looking for…”

The officer eventually left emptyhanded, and officials later determined that the issue was “a matter to be managed within the Berkshire Hills Regional School District,” Storti said last month. 

Why the teacher is calling for an independent investigation

Still, the teacher’s attorney — Howard Cooper of Todd & Weld — wrote in Friday’s letter that the police search raised “numerous and serious legal issues with regard to the lack of any reasonable suspicion, let alone probable cause, to interrogate our client.” The letter also alleges “clear discrimination” against the teacher based on her sexual orientation.

According to The Berkshire Eagle, the first news outlet to report on the search, the teacher has since taken a temporary leave of absence. Berkshire Hills Regional School District Superintendent Peter Dillon confirmed in an email that the teacher is on paid leave at her request, adding that “all will be addressed” at a school committee meeting on Thursday evening.

“To me, a priority is to find out what happened so that my client hopefully can understand what measures need to be taken for her to feel safe in her classroom,” Cooper said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We’re living in an age where we have people — including the former president — who are building political movements on getting people riled up to the point where things are happening, whether intended or not, that put people in danger.”

He said there are still lingering questions about how the complaint arose and why officials took the steps they did. 

“Unfortunately, we are living in a moment where you can’t be too careful about these things,” Cooper said. “So first and foremost, what we’re hoping to accomplish is to find out exactly what happened and then we’ll focus on how to remedy what happened and make sure that nothing like it happens again.”

Asked about the possibility of a lawsuit against the school district or police department, Cooper replied: “Well, everything is on the table for us to consider, but to make an informed judgment about it, we really need to know what happened.”

A ‘dangerous and slippery slope’

Storti issued a public apology on Dec. 21, writing, “If our involvement caused distrust and alarm, that was not our intention. I promise you our actions were not meant to disenfranchise anyone or influence school curriculum.”

He emphasized that it is not the police department’s role to seek out, censor, or ban books in schools.

“We are aware every day of larger issues that can stoke anger, hatred, and lead to discrimination,” Storti wrote. “It’s been my personal goal as your police chief to head a department that can act as an ally to our community in times that can be polarizing. Whatever your race or gender, ethnicity, legal status or mental health, we strive to serve you all equally.”

By then, news of the “Gender Queer” complaint had spread statewide; the incident prompted Gov. Maura Healey to declare that “book banning has no place in Massachusetts.” 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) also wrote a letter to Storti and Berkshire District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue last month asserting that a criminal investigation wasn’t warranted under state laws.

Likewise, Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy issued a joint statement describing the search as a “frightening overreach by law enforcement” and “an epic failure on the part of those entrusted to uphold justice and the public good.”

“The so-called culture wars are not confined to any particular states or regions,” Page and McCarthy said, urging educators not to “drop their guard.”

Cooper agreed; the complaint and its aftermath “should be of concern to all of us,” he said.

“There are some incredibly unfortunate events that have happened in modern history, which tell us what the potential ramifications of book banning and thought police are,” Cooper continued. “No one is saying that that is what was intended here, but it’s a very dangerous and slippery slope for one group of people to start complaining about the contents of a book in a classroom.”

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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