The cover of the book that Vox wants to veto in the schools of Vinaròs.
El Triangle Rosa (The Pink Triangle) by the Valencian writer Silvestre Vilaplana talks about Dani. A teenager who lies “to survive, because he does not understand himself, because he does not accept himself as he is, because he is afraid of the environment that surrounds him, because prejudices outweigh feelings” is called it in the summary. He lies until one day the web of lies begins to break, “and he is finally faced with a truth that hurts him, but that will set him free.” Without drama and with a lot of humor.
The Pink Triangle tells the story of a teenager’s discovery of his sexual option. And in this novel about sexual diversity, one of the reading books of this course for the students of the Vinaròs high school in Castellón, the community group Vox has made its attempt to veto the council – which governs in the PSPV-Compromís coalition – on the grounds of “sexual Content” of the book and considering that it “incites drug use”.
Sources consulted by EL PAÍS indicate that in the case of the IES José Vilaplana – one of the two existing in the municipality, both public – the reading of the book was aimed at ESO second-year students in the Valencian language subject, according to The As edition was the Edition published in this language was chosen. In contradiction to the Vox version, they assured in the last plenary session that no parent went to the institute to complain about the book.
The right-wing extremist group, through its spokesman in the local council, Josué Brito, regrets that students are “forced” to do this type of reading and asks the city council to urge the Ministry of Education and teachers to “ask the students: “Parents if.” They are satisfied that their children read such books and can decide.” Vox goes one step further and suggests reading alternatives in secondary schools: “Why aren’t children forced to read books about the story of Vinaroz? “About our Carta Pobla?” he says in a statement published this Wednesday.
It was at the September plenary session, held at the end of last week, that Vox expressed its discomfort at the complaints received “from a large number of parents” about reading this publication “for 13 and 14 year old children”. be. Parents who are bothered by “high sexual content”. [del libro] This leads their children to make decisions that do not correspond to those at home,” said Josué Brito during his speech. “It doesn’t matter what kind of sexuality it teaches, but rather the age of the children who should read this book. It encourages drugs, disobedience to parents and other things that I will not say on an open microphone,” he added. In the same plenary session, he also criticized the need for students to examine the book “to confirm whether they have understood the message.” According to the ultra-conservative formation, the implementation of this type of readings “deprives families of autonomy”, which is why it calls for consultation with parents “when planning the annual study system in the centers”.
The mayor of Vinaròs, the socialist Guillem Alsina, regrets that Vox is pursuing “ideological politics” with this issue. “He reminds me of his colleague from Borriana, who bans all books,” he accused Josué Brito in the plenary session, referring to the extreme right-wing mayor of Borriana, Jesús Albiol, who wants to remove books on books from the youth section of the municipal library of this city . sexual diversity and that Months before, she also censored five magazines in Catalan in the same room because they considered them defenders of the independence movement.
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The mayor of Vinaròs recalls that the recommended age for “The Pink Triangle” set by the publisher Algar itself is between 12 and 18 years. He assures that the Council will not impose anything on the centers or teachers on this issue. “The only thing left to do is to suggest to teachers the books that their students should read; “We have complete confidence in the professionalism and judgment of the teaching staff,” he says.
The mayor’s office also refers to the provisions of the Children’s Law of the Generalitat Valenciana, which underlines in its articles 19, 38 and 44 that educational actions will adopt an inclusive and gender perspective and recognize emotional-sexual diversity, and that “The programs will be co-educational and promote equal opportunities and gender equality; respect and tolerance […] and the different forms of emotional-sexual relationships […]“.
For its part, the Ministry of Education reminds that educational centers “have the autonomy to choose their readings”.
Last June, the author of The Pink Triangle himself celebrated the Spanish translation of the book on his social networks, “especially in the very complicated times that are coming,” he said, wrapping the message as a nod to the collective with three LGTBI flags. Among the comments left after the announcement were several congratulatory messages to the author for a “highly recommended publication for students and their parents.”
Also on social networks, but to the opposite extreme, the Vox MP and candidate of this formation for the presidency of the Consell Carlos Flores, convicted of sexist violence, has spoken out on this issue. He emphasizes that Vox “does not propose to ban the reading of this book”, but calls “at the request of parents that reading is no longer compulsory for 13-year-old students” and concludes his tweet with a “freedom of thought”. So; ideological indoctrination, evil.”