Free to Be: Supporting Diversity of Gender & Sexuality in an International School Library

Katie Day

When you work as a teacher-librarian in an international school in Singapore and someone says “banned books,” the first thing that comes to mind is the famous (at least here in Singapore) incident in 2014 regarding the 2005 picture book “And Tango Makes Three.”  Initially it was reported that, after complaints by a parent, the book would be removed from public libraries and pulped, but the news caused such a local ruckus (and unwelcome international attention) that, in the end, one copy was kept and placed in the adult “Parenting” section, where it can still be found.

Singapore society (and hence government) is fairly conservative.  The official stance is to not condone literature for children that promotes or glamorizes non-heterosexual lifestyles. (See summary details re its LGBTQ+ history and rights here and here.)  

The National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore is the country’s unified library system with 26 branches and millions of books, a central authority admirably serving the public as well as all government schools. Yet by controlling its massive collection, it can limit potential exposure to literature that might offer young people broader mirrors and windows (to use Bishop’s famous diversity metaphor). 

However, like the notorious ban on chewing gum, it’s not as if you can’t chew gum here. I’m quite sure most, if not all, of the international schools in Singapore have copies of “And Tango Makes Three” on their shelves -- just as my school does - in all three libraries. For secondary school students it serves as a wonderful springboard for discussions about banned books.

And while warning labels (see photo) on some YA literature in the biggest bookstore chain here in Asia -- Kinokuniya -- might make us foreigner librarians do a double-take, the books are on display to be purchased (even if they might not be available in the NLB catalog -- which we often check as a cultural barometer).

Singapore is a privileged bubble within southeast Asia, and international schools are a bubble within that bubble.  While Singapore citizens must be educated in Singapore schools, international schools are designed to accommodate the offspring of expatriate workers, in all their variety.  Some schools follow a national bent (whether British or French or Australian or American, etc.), while others are non-denominational (so to speak) -- and the International Baccalaureate Organisation programmes (PYP, MYP, and DP) are popular across the board.

Tanglin Trust School, where I work, is affiliated with the UK, and so our libraries’ collection development policy (and the school’s diversity and inclusion policy) is based on UK standards, e.g., the protected characteristics in the 2010 Equality Act, which includes gender and sexuality diversity, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.  

We are proud to have our secondary school students raise awareness about Oogachaga, “Singapore’s Most Established LGBTQ+ Community Organisation” -- and there is a permanent display area in our secondary school library using the umbrella term “Free to Be” -- which offers a continually changing selection of teen/adult titles from our 200+ and growing “Free to Be” fiction list, showcasing books that feature characters who are exploring or expressing themselves in various gender/sexual ways. 

Our Tanglin Senior School nonfiction list of “Free to Be” books includes the locally published “I Will Survive: Personal Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Stories in Singapore”.

As evidence of the increasing easing of LGBTQ+ acceptance in Singapore in the years since “And Tango Makes Three” made headlines, a son and grandson of the legendary founding father, Lee Kwan Yew, attended the 2019 Pink Dot event, with the grandson openly bringing along his husband (whom he married in South Africa, as gay marriage doesn’t happen in Singapore).

Note: Pink Dot is a take-off on Red Dot -- a proud epithet for Singapore, appropriated from a disparaging comment made years ago by the leader of a neighboring country.  The island state may be just a little red dot on the map, but it’s a powerful one today.

Hence, our international school librarian network (ISLN) here chose “Red Dot” as the name of our annual book award -- the Red Dot Book Awards -- a vehicle for us to choose a range of recent books from around the world for students in four reader age categories -- Early Years, Younger (G2-G4), Older (G4-G8), and Mature (G8+) -- and promote them in our communities each year.  Awards help books get attention and distribution, and the power of the collective puts a positive stamp on each title.  We always aim for a balance (read: diversity) in the titles we select. 

In 2021 one of our Early Years titles was “Jerome by Heart” -- a French translation picture book about a little boy explaining why he loves his friend Jerome so much, despite indications that his father, in particular, doesn’t share his enthusiasm for that love.  (The book is one of the titles in the Pride and Less Prejudice “Book Gallery” and the Singapore NLB carries a copy in each of its three major district branches. See Maria Popova’s ‘Brainpickings’ blog post on this book for an in-depth look at how wonderful it is.)

The nonfiction book “The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives” was a big hit in our 2021-2022 Red Dot Mature category shortlist, with one international school in our network using it as a ‘One Book, One School’ focus for the whole year.

The previous year in the Red Dot Mature category we had both the graphic novel, “The Prince and the Dressmaker,” as well as the novel “Darius the Great is Not Okay.”

This year we are excited to have “Pet” by Akwaeke Emezi on the Mature shortlist, in addition to “Heartstopper” - Alice Oseman’s webcomic which will soon be a Netflix show.  The “Heartstopper” series was one of the most highly borrowed items in our secondary school library this past year.

Discovery is an important concept for us librarians.  How do people find books? -- whether on purpose and inadvertently. 

Inside the catalog are subject headings or tags attached to each book, but they are usually a mess.  The librarian has to think about what their users are likely to type in, but cataloging records are often just picked up from other libraries -- and it takes time to prune the vocabulary internally.  So the average school library catalog might contain the following:

• LGBT

• LGBTQ

• LGBTQI

• LGBTQ+

• LGBTQI+

• Homosexual*

• Gender - Identity

• Gender - Roles

• Gender - Discrimination

• Gender - Equality

• Gender - Expression

• Gender - Nonconformity

• Lesbian*

• Gay*

• Transgender*

• Bisexual*

• Asexual*

• Sexual orientation

• Sexual minorities

• Same sex marriage

• Same sex couples

• Sex role

  Etc.

Which is why I think every library should choose an umbrella term -- and lump all expressions of gender/sexuality under it -- and let students just read them and absorb for themselves which particular aspect the book illuminates.  My term of choice is “Free to Be” -- embracing the full spectrum of gender/sexuality.

A famous anthropologist once defined the goal of their discipline as “a world made safe for differences” (Ruth Benedict, The Sword & The Chrysanthemum, 1946).  The same could be said of libraries, especially ones catering to children and young people.  It is through stories that we learn about all the different ways to be in the world.  So libraries have a responsibility to offer as broad a range of voices and visions of how that might look and might be lived with regards to sex and gender.

When the long history of Banned Books is highlighted, whether for a week or a month, it is a time to reflect on the various potential barriers to the free flow of stories.  Gatekeepers of literature for children range from institutional authorities governing schools and libraries to individual school leaders, teachers, librarians, and parents.  And of course, higher up in the supply chain, there are authors, literary agents, publishers, and book vendors, etc.  

May we all serve as gate-openers, in all realms of influence, for the children in our lives.

Disclaimer:  the views are my own and not necessarily those of my employer or ISLN.

Katie Day is an international school teacher-librarian. An American with a masters in children’s literature from the UK and a masters in library science and teaching qualification from Australia, she has lived overseas for over 30 years, including 13 years in Singapore, where she first worked at United World College of Southeast Asia and now at Tanglin Trust School in the secondary school library.  She has also lived and worked in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and the UK. Online​ ​she​ ​uses​ ​“The​ ​Librarian​ ​Edge”​ ​as​ ​her​ ​blog​ ​and​ ​Twitter​ ​handle.