The Hollidaysburg Area School District Board of Directors encountered a combined attendance of nearly 600 people and 6 hours of discussion over two meetings regarding gender identity and preferred pronouns in the current school policy.

Spark of the issue

This discussion was sparked by a recent situation at Hollidaysburg Junior High School. A book titled “Gender Queer” was seen on seventh grade English teacher Nicole Stouffer’s desk. Stouffer was also seen reading the book in school on occasion.

The book is a memoir written by Maia Kobabe. Kobabe writes about the experience of coming...