To the Los Alamos Public Schools and School Board

The feelings expressed by some individuals about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ literature are antiquated and repulsive.  These ‘parents’ that are petitioning the school board for the removal of LGBTQ+ literature are demonstrating their prejudice under the guise of oppression and child endangerment.

If you don’t want your kid reading the literature, be a parent and tell them such.  LGBTQ+ literature is life-saving, and if you believe that the LGBTQ+ agenda is to turn your child into a member of the LGBTQ+ community, then we, collectively, will welcome them with open arms.  Your rhetoric is dangerous and not right for the Los Alamos community.  Los Alamos National Laboratory and the surrounding community has worked hard to be inclusive and a safe space for everyone.  That includes you.

This type of Letter to the Editor and activities to stifle LGBTQ+ literature is incredibly dangerous.  The writer of the previous letter used sexual deviance as her excuse for removing LGBTQ+ literature from the schools. I was raised in Los Alamos and graduated from LAHS in 2006.  I moved away for college and came back, knowing that Los Alamos and the surrounding communities were accepting and open to me as a gay man.  I married in 2015 and have 5 wonderful kids that we love with all our hearts.

The previous writer’s intent is to sue Los Alamos Public Schools for displaying and offering inclusive literature.  With the removal of LGBTQ+ literature from the libraries, a precedent would be created that allows parents to sue over other types of literature such as ones that display different races or creeds different from that of the plaintiff.

Kids, if you are LGBTQ+, please, know that there are safe spaces and resources available for you. If you are a danger to yourself, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255.

Joshua Chapman