‘Mermaid’ book stirs up controversy among Darien parents

DARIEN — A children’s picture book that stirred controversy among some Darien parents for its depiction of a gender-nonconforming child has gotten a district OK to remain available to teachers as part of the curriculum.

In a memo sent to parents, the curriculum team explained that the book met the district’s core values of diversity and inclusion and supports acceptance and empathy.

The memo added that the book’s inclusion of gender identity is not the main theme of the lesson unit but “may be relatable to some students.” While the publisher may list the book under gender identity among other tags, “a book tag in no way determines or limits the scope of a lesson or a teaching point.”

Parent Megan Watros brought “Julián Is a Mermaid” to the attention of the Board of Education at a recent meeting after it was read in her secondgrader’s class.

Written and illustrated by Jessica Love, “Julián Is a Mermaid” follows a young boy who dreams of dressing as a mermaid after seeing several participants in the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. The book received widespread acclaim for its artistic style and message of acceptance and earned several prizes, including the 2019 Stonewall Book Award.

The book falls under the social and emotional learning curriculum in the Darien Public Schools and was selected “to support the acceptance and unconditional love of differences,” Superintendent Alan Addley said.

At the school board meeting Oct. 25, Watros said she is “all for” diversity in education, but called the book “inappropriate” for a second-grade class given its discussion of gender themes and what she interpreted as promoting gender transitioning.

“Education on changing gender should be completely off-limits,” she said. “If this is the path the school wishes to take with the social and emotional learning, because that’s the guise that they’re hiding this under, then we should be able to opt out.”

Her concerns sparked a debate in the meeting and have since circled through the community of Darien parents after an anonymous email appeared in some parents’ inboxes on Nov. 13, nearly three weeks after the meeting.

The email, sent from an encrypted Proton Mail address listed as “protect-darienkids, reiterated some of the points Watros raised, including the book’s depiction of “a young non-gender-conforming boy dressing as a girl, several pictures of drag queens and the boy being paraded semi-naked with adults.”

“Given the lack of transparency and the question marks around age appropriateness of this material, it is only fair that parents should know,” the email says.

The message also lists the names and contact information of the members of the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Education. It is unknown how many parents received the email.