Freshmen from Duke University are refusing to read Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" on the grounds that it compromises their moral Christian beliefs.
The graphic novel is about Bechdel's childhood in an artistic family in a small Pennsylvania town and the role of her blossoming sexuality in her relationship with her mother and father, a high school English teacher and funeral home director.
The book was partially responsible for the MacArthur "Genius Grant" she was honored with in 2014, it has been adapted into a Broadway musical, which won the night at the Tony Awards this year, according to Towleroad.
Congrats to Fun Home on its 5 Tony Awards. Read the graphic novel that inspired the play - https://t.co/H2ONX5OWcs pic.twitter.com/llOVOfXq0S
— comiXology (@comiXology) June 8, 2015
Incoming Duke University freshmen were assigned the book as part of a summer reading program designed to prepare them for collegiate-level learning.
Upon seeing the book as part of the program, Duke University freshman Brian Grasso posted his thoughts about being instructed to read "Fun Home" on his Facebook page, saying he would not read the book because of the sexuality depictions, according to The Duke Chronicle.
"I feel as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it. Duke did not seem to have people like me in mind. It was like Duke didn't know we existed, which surprises me," Grasso said.
Another freshman, Bianca D'Souza, noted that even the graphic novel did discuss important topics, she found the graphic sexual interactions in the book inappropriate and could not bring herself to view the nudity.
Elizabeth Snyder-Mounts, another freshman, was shocked by the inclusion of the book thinking to herself, "What kind of school am I going to?", according to the New Civil RIghts Movement.
Other students, as well as people who heard the news, opposed the viewpoint arguing the very purpose of the book was to expose the reader to a new perspective he or she might not be familiar with.
"Reading the book will allow you to open your mind to a new perspective and examine a way of life and thinking with which you are unfamiliar," one student argued.
Senior Sherry Zhang, a Duke summer reading book selection committee member, called the Grasso post "very respectful and considerate," and said she was aware that "Fun Home" would be a contentious selection. Zhang still supports the graphic novel selection and said she feels Duke is a place where issues of sexuality are not shied away from.
"I would encourage them to talk about why they chose to read it or not," Zhang added.
