From Tribune staff reports
BIRMINGHAM — The Kids Consent Fair planned for the Birmingham Public Library on Springville Road that organizers say is designed to “make sex education less scary and more fun” was canceled, according to The Alabama Campaign. The event was scheduled for last Saturday, May 20.
In a statement posted on the group’s website, the organization said the event was canceled due to threatening calls and emails to the library staff and organizers.
“On the morning of May 18, Alabama Campaign and library staff received emails asking for the cancellation of the event, claiming it was ‘inappropriate for children and adults,’” according to the statement. “These emails were followed by numerous phone calls personally attacking and threatening library staff. Callers also implied that the event would be disrupted.”
Officials with the Birmingham Public Library have not commented on the allegations and the Birmingham Police Department has not issued a statement.
Activities planned for the Consent for Kids Fair included a consent story hour, featuring children’s books such as “Will Ladybug Hug?”, “Can I Give You a Squish?”, and “Don’t Hug Doug (He Doesn’t Like It)”; pin the ovary on the uterus; coloring station; and gender creative fashion show, in which children can try on different clothes to explore self-expression, according to information promoting the event.
While the event scheduled for last Saturday was canceled, organizers said they would regroup and hold the event this summer.
“This event has been postponed but will still happen this summer once there are systems in place to ensure no one is harassed or otherwise harmed,” according to the statement issued by the non-profit group.
Executive director of the Alabama Campaign, Christina Clark Okarmus, said the activities are used in public schools in other states and are appropriate for K-12 graders.
“We planned this event for Sex Ed for All Month as a way to involve parents and to make sex education less scary and more fun,” Clark Okarmus said. “Research shows that children who are equipped with the proper names for their anatomy, as well as the skills to refuse unwanted touching, are less likely to become victims of sexual abuse.”
Clark Okarmus blamed recent bills passed in the Alabama Legislature which she deemed as “anti-LGBTQ bills” and a rise in “parental rights extremism” as the catalyst for the threats.
In 2022, Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act was signed into law and makes it illegal to prescribe puberty blockers, provide hormone treatment or sex change operations to children 18 and under. Bills dictating students use restrooms aligned with their sex at birth and prohibiting transgender people who are not biological females from competing in girl’s and women’s sports have followed.
“We have never seen controversy around events that we host at the Alabama Campaign, but the Alabama legislature has recently introduced several anti-LGBTQ bills, and there has been a rise in parental rights extremism, so we don’t think this is a coincidence,” Clark Okarmus said.
Heidi Miller of the Yellowhammer Fund, which partners with the Alabama Campaign to host the event, said she was saddened by the turn of events.
“Alabamians of all ages deserve to have bodily autonomy without state or religious interference,” Miller said.