Court Orders Review of Explicit Sex Book’s Availability to Young Readers

The action was lodged by conservative Christian commentator Bernard Gaynor.

A children's books section in a library in Albany, Western Australia, on April 22, 2024. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Brisbane father and conservative commentator, Bernard Gaynor, has won a court battle to have the classification of the explicit sex book Gender Queer reviewed by authorities.

Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe, is an illustrated graphic novel based on the author’s sexual explorations and includes references to gender identities and sexual interactions.

The book also includes an illustration where the author has a sexual fantasy over an ancient Greek style artwork showing a man and boy engaging in intercourse.

Since being published in 2019, Gender Queer has won awards, but has also been criticised for introducing explicit content to younger readers.

Gaynor lodged an action with the Federal Court of Australia against the minister for communications to have the book’s classification reviewed.

Court Finds Review Board Overlooked Complaints

On Oct. 14, the court handed down its decision, agreeing that the book’s unrestricted classification should be reviewed after it found the Australian Classifications Review Board had ignored or overlooked public submissions for its censorship.

After the Board’s initial review in 2023, the book retained an unclassified ranking, with advice it be read by those aged 15 and up.

Yet Gaynor’s barrister Bret Walker SC argued the Board had rejected many submissions critical of Gender Queer because they had assumed their arguments were “overwhelmingly anti-LGBTQIA+.”

But Justice Ian Jackman found that, in fact, very few submissions were actually concerned about the LGBT content in the book.

Instead, the majority of submissions were concerned with the graphic nature of the content, and depictions of a man and boy together.

Out of 576 submissions about Gender Queer, only 66 were opposing the book for having LGBT content.

“The review board’s description of the public submissions overwhelmingly being ‘broadly anti-LGBTQIA+’ demonstrates that the review board ignored, overlooked or misunderstood those submissions,” he wrote in his judgement.

Gaynor’s Response

In response, Gaynor welcomed the outcome and hoped the book would eventually be removed altogether from Australian shelves as some libraries already have.

Gaynor said the decision of the court means the title must be removed from all public libraries and bookstores until a new classification is decided.

“The Minister for Communications [Michelle Rowland] should have a good, hard look at her classification bureaucrats,” he told The Epoch Times.

The Epoch Times contacted the minister’s office and Review Board for comment.