Fun Home is an award-winning graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel that’s been turned into a hit Broadway musical. It’s about painful childhoods, sexuality, and recognizing that one’s parents have possibly unforgivable flaws; it also features a lesbian protagonist whose father cheats on his wife with men. So, Christian students starting their first year at Duke are refusing to read it.
Bechdel’s book was named as part of a summer reading list for incoming freshmen, but a group of students are protesting its inclusion. As Christian Nightmares points out, after Brian Grasso posted a message on a closed Facebook group for students to share his reservations about reading the book as a Christian, many revealed their own misgivings about the text.
The Duke Chronicle reports that Grasso claims to have received many messages from students who agree with his point of view but may have been too afraid to stand up for themselves. He also says that it’s surprising that Duke wouldn’t think of people like him and his supporters when they chose the books for the reading list.
“I feel as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it,” Brian Grasso wrote on the Duke University Class of 2019 Facebook page, a closed group. He cited its “graphic visual depictions of sexuality,” as part of his reason. “Duke did not seem to have people like me in mind,” he added. “It was like Duke didn’t know we existed, which surprises me.”
It seems, though, that Duke had people exactly like Grasso in mind. The book, which does feature some nudity (although I’ve read it twice and can’t recall anything resembling pornography), also features a frank and honest discussion about sexuality and coming to terms with one’s own sexual orientation. It’s a perfect book for incoming college freshmen: it’s not so controversial, seemingly, that it would cut a school down the middle, but it presents many, many opportunities for discussion. The students protesting the book are the ones who would most benefit from it.