During a Maricopa City Council meeting July 16, Christine Belanger requested the city develop a “code of conduct” for library books available to Maricopa youth.

Belanger, who worked for Maricopa Unified School District until 2017, claimed that because city facilities require employees adhere to a code of conduct, she wanted to see the same for library books.

The young adult and children’s books Belanger takes issue with share an LGBTQ message.

She brought two books to the council meeting to illustrate her point: Harry Woodgate’s “Grandad’s Pride,” and M.L. Webb’s “The GayBCs.”

“It’s a distraction from our children’s education,” she said. “So, I just encourage you to get together and develop a code of conduct for the books that we receive in our library.”

As an example, she pointed to one illustration of the 32-page “Grandad’s Pride” that depicted a character in the crowd wearing leather gear. She called the book “really obscene.”

“It’s a distraction from our children’s education,” she said. “So, I just encourage you to get together and develop a code of conduct for the books that we receive in our library.”

This isn’t her first time making such a request.

Belanger has brought up similar issues about the availability of LGBTQ books at the city’s library. She went before the Maricopa council’s Nov. 7 meeting in which she attempted to read a selection of a transcript from a 2023 congressional hearing on Illinois’ anti-book ban law, which featured U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., reading a sexually explicit scene from a young adult book.

In each of her requests, Belanger said the selected books “do not promote character or confidence for our young children.” She also called the books “trash,” “disgusting” and “a travesty.”

She admitted to checking out a number of books on a regular basis to prevent youths from being exposed to them.

InMaricopa was unable to contact Belanger regarding her views.

During one of the council meetings, then-City Manager Rick Horst responded with a reminder that members of the LGBTQ community also call Maricopa home.

“They are a segment of the community who have different feelings and different perspectives and they have to be respected as residents of our community as well,” Horst said. “Frankly, these books are available, and people can choose or not choose what they want to read.”

Last year, Americans attempted to censor 4,240 unique books from schools and libraries, according to the American Library Association. This number surged 65% from the previous year.