“Move beyond the gender binary.” That was the message the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton used to promote a children's book event earlier this month in Hamilton, New Jersey.
The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton sponsored a reading for local children of "My Shadow is Purple" by Scott Stuart at the Hamilton Township Public Library.
The book is described by the publisher as “a story about being true to yourself, just as you are,” and features a young protagonist realizing it’s okay to be themselves, even if they don’t fit comfortably within the gender binary.
Though the event itself reportedly took place with little trouble, now some local parents are outraged that a Catholic charity would sponsor the event. They argue the message goes against Catholic principles and the best interests of children under the church's watch.
My Shadow is Purple
What exactly is the content in the book that parents are objecting to?
"My Shadow is Purple" uses color metaphors to challenge the gender binary and explain the concept to a younger audience. The author uses a pink shadow to symbolize being a girl, and a blue shadow for being a boy.
"My dad has a shadow that’s blue as a berry and my mom's is as pink as a blossoming cherry," state’s the book’s young protagonist in its opening lines. "There’s only those choices, a two or a one. But mine is quite different. It’s both and it’s none. If theirs are straight then mine is a circle."
The main character is described as having a purple shadow, different from their mom and dad. “My shadow loves playing with all sorts of toys. Things loved by girls and things loved by boys,” he says in the story. The book tells children they don’t necessarily have to conform to traditionally masculine or feminine roles, and that it’s okay to enjoy both ‘boy’ things and ‘girl’ things.
Wearing a combination suit and dress, the child is forced to choose whether to stand on the girls’ side or boys’ side at a school dance, and breaks down in tears at the thought of doing so. In the end, however, all the other children join the protagonist to dance together in the center of the dance floor, joined by their various multicolored shadows – pink, blue, purple, and beyond.
You can see and hear the book read aloud in full below.
The Backlash Begins
Of course, not everyone was pleased that a book promoting gender nonconformity was read to kids, and some local parents expressed outrage when news broke that a local Catholic charity coordinated the reading.
"We are in a state of complete disbelief that our Diocese would align itself with something so clearly in opposition to the teachings of our faith,” explained one parent. "We seriously question how this sponsorship is anything other than a sad example of secularized virtue signaling… I would also like the Diocese of Trenton to explain how moving children 'beyond the gender binary' will move them closer to God?"
The Diocese has a response: they were simply fulfilling a legal contract with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, which occasionally includes book readings like this one.
“[We offer] a wide variety of educational and prevention programs for students, families and educators to ensure the children in the county have access to behavioral health care as well as information about numerous issues that can impact a student’s mental health," the charity explained.
Past Controversy
It isn’t the first time this particular book has made headlines. In 2023, longtime Georgia teacher Katherine Rinderle was fired from Due West Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia, after reading the book to her 5th-grade students.
In a 4-3 decision, the Cobb County School Board voted to fire Renderle following parent backlash, on the grounds that she violated the state’s law on teaching “divisive concepts,” which bars teachers from “espousing personal political beliefs” in the classroom.
At the time, Scott Stuart responded to Rinderle’s firing, calling it “disgusting.”
Beyond the Binary
By most standards, "My Shadow is Purple" is pretty tame, especially compared to some other books that have been in the crosshairs of anti-LGBTQ advocates.
Fans of the book note that it also doesn’t tear down or disparage those who fit into traditional gender norms, and its overarching message is to teach empathy for oneself and kindness to others.
Clearly, though, critics feel as though the content crosses a line and is inappropriate for children.
What do you make of the controversy? Are parents overreacting, or is the message truly antithetical to faith teachings?
31 comments
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Robert James Ruhnke
Saying something as benign as gender being fluid isn’t the phantom which right winger Christians are trying to project it as. When you break it down, no two cis hetero people express gender the same, so why should it matter when other don’t express on the cis portion of the fluidity?
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, the ideology that gender is fluid is wrong. Gender is inherent and enduring. Kudos on your efforts to slip that falsehood past the reader by referring to it as being benign. CIS hetero people don't exist, straight people do. This matters because it's pushing bad gender theory as correct when it's wrong.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Kester you attack the victim’s of child predators, like child predators when confronted by their peers. You have nothing credible or decent to say. You attack anything that isn’t white Christian nationalism, gender essentialism, and so many archaic ideals that are slowly but surely being moved away from. The idea that gender is not fluid is archaic and incomplete. You have no real science to back up what you’re saying, and everything you’ve said is just parroted from right wing media, nothing more.
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Colleen McAllister
This book is nothing more than a simple story telling children to be themselves. I see nothing here that violates my faith (Christian) so perhaps Catholics need to lighten up and let children be children.
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Russel A. Kester
Colleen, while the book is designed to appear as you described, it is actually well crafted propaganda to teach transgender and queer ideologies to vulnerable children whose minds are not yet developed enough to be critical the material or its presentation.
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Robert James Ruhnke
That’d be you pushing maga ideology, Kester. Not this simple book which explains that some people are just different. No more. You trying to pervert it says more about you than you’re able to realize.
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ServantOfJudgement
Young men of this day call it "putting the tip in".
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Barbara Harris
Colleen McAllister, you have always been a voice of reason and compassion. As a Pagan I find this so refreshing. Thank you for being here.
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Robert Gagnon
Remember gateway drugs?It's OK everybody's doing it, just because your parents tell you It's not healthy to let your imagination and symbols lead you down a bad path...etc..etc. And what a wonderful fairy tail, everybody accepted and converted simultaneously. Such a brave soul to change the world. Fairy tail, not a hero. Epilogue: No one else had such shadows, kid was bullied, started cutting them self, transitioned, world didn't get better, found em swinging from the ceiling fan. parents wonder where it all started.
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ServantOfJudgement
What a tragic and profound analysis.
I've not delved into post transition suicides much but I know they happen. We use suicide as a reason to encourage transition then close our eyes afterwards and ignore the suicide because of transition. It seems like any voice encouraging pause is attacked then blotted out.
If anything in the world is truly fluid it's the youth. It seems unwise to lock them in on a course they don't have the foresight to comprehend.
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Robert James Ruhnke
It starts when sentiments like this are shoveled into their existences by people like yourself Gags. Cowards who don’t know how to leave people alone. More of us survive than die off, it’s why we’ve always been here. The bullies are the problem, not the child who is different. THe parents, like you, who push their children down the actual dark paths of bullying and cruelty are also the problem. It’s okay everyone is doing it is the only reason religion is so popular.oh and it’s fanatics forcing it with violence also helps.
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Russel A. Kester
It's inappropriate for any public setting. It's clearly indoctrination of the worst kind. I listened to the video (thank you ULC for including the link). I was hoping all the hoopla was wrong and that I would like it, but I didn't. I was hoping it would actually be about the variations expressed within both genders, but instead it was pushing the ideology of trans genderism without using the term trans. And written so playfully and cute that it's author was hoping to bypass the cognitive thinking of the brain using lyrical prose and colors and place its ideological message into the subconscious while the conscious was lulled with pleasant sensations. So while the book's cute, I have to say shoot. Please close that book, the author's a crook.
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
those are exactly my thoughts only with regard to the bible and religion. funny how we can each say the same thing but about something completely different. religious brainwashing is worse than any so-called "indoctrination" you are referring to.
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White Owl
And those who say that about the bible also say it should not be taught in schools, so we all agree neither of these books belong in schools?
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Robert James Ruhnke
One of those books is just a helpful summary of gender fluidity, the other has been a source of devil for 2000 years. The Bible has no place in school aside from history class or some kind of theocracy class. I have no issue with it being used as example of human folly.
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Robert James Ruhnke
What you’re saying is more true about the Bible, than this book Kester. The only one pushing for indoctrination is you with your ideas that schools should be religious indoctrination centers that are segregated by gender. Again you confess what right wingers are wanting only with their brand on it.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
That book is completely benign. There's no sex in it, it's not "Pornography", there is nothing except a gender fluid protagonist. I heard about this. They're screaming saying that the book is "pornography", that it's "abuse", that it's "grooming kids to be sex slaves", etc.
These people are INSANE. I'm betting there's going to be a bunch that are going to grab copies of the book to do tiktoks of themselves burning them and screaming how it needs to be banned, etc.
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Russel A. Kester
Bridget, simply because the book doesn't have pornographic material doesn't mean it's benign. Nazi propaganda didn't use pornographic material but it wasn't benign. Far from it as is this book.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
So you're saying that a book about a gender-fluid individual is the same as the hate-filled rhetoric of Nazi propaganda which pushed for the persecution and destruction of an entire culture?
That's a lot of raw, unadulterated, hatred you have there
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Robert James Ruhnke
Using a false equivalency doesn’t mean your opinion is correct, Kester. The Nazis burned down a museum, burned all of its research and books. Both were dedicated to early modern studies an trans and LGBTQ+ individuals. You’re siding with those who would silence all voices included yours in the community. The LGB will not be spared from them.
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James Mounts
The mental-health crisis in this country is becoming alarming. Imagine people thinking shadows have sexes. Instead of teaching our children to be themselves, let's teach them to be better than themselves.
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Russel A. Kester
James, I really pondered the last part of your comment, I felt a sense of agreement but there was a hesitancy to my agreement. I we should be ourselves. But not in every way as we have a fallen nature prone to sin. Which made me agree with the very last part that we should be better than ourselves. That is better than ourselves when we're in the throws of sin. I concluded that as a compromise of these various feelings and thoughts, I will strive to be the best version of myself through God's guidance and grace. Thanks for prompting my thoughts to this conclusion.
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ServantOfJudgement
This why public schools ought not teach the bible. Apparently even Catholic schools teachers struggle to teach it. If one does not believe or comprehend the subject he ought not teach it. This nonsense is 1+1 for a child getting prepared to go down that long and twisted rabbit hole of gender insanity. The basic building block for absurdity. It is after all in the lgbtq2ia++:( section isn't it?
It's good they ditched the teacher. She can get a job in a public school where they arm wrestle for a chance to drink the Kool aid.
Jesus warned Christians to be as wise as the serpent for he knew the naive and nature of us. Even Christians here are blind to this deception calling it harmless, even promoting it. A mosquito bite is harmless until it isn't. Once and evil seed is planted and takes root in the mind of a child, extracting it is nearly impossible.
Does anyone who opposes my opinion see that while you say stay out of our bedroom you also say to let me teach your children about our bedroom? You do it in our churches and in our schools. You demand your doctrine be preached while denying ours to be taught, even in our own places. You call them safe spaces, which used to make me laugh. Now the term puts me on alert.
Our mind is a battle field Christians. Be wise about things, our Lord commands it.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Gender identification has nothing to do with the bedroom, pervert. Your mind is checker board whilst the rest of us are plat 3D chess. We have no doctrine. We just have science as it is. You’re the one pushing for your psychotic Christian doctrine to be pushed on us. We are pushing for kids to be left alone, you’re pushing for them to be indoctrinated into being straight and Christian, like y’all have been doing for 2000 years now.
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Lionheart
Thank you for your thoughts. We actually have no evidence whatsoever that the biblical Jesus ever said anything meaningful other than what historians, (that never met him), like to imply what he said. So, in reality, we have no idea what he ever really commanded.
Those historians that were alive during his suggested time on earth never wrote about him. Weird…right?
🦁❤️
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Barbara Harris
As a little girl I loved to play with my Barbie doll, but Ken was not my idea of who I wanted her to be with, so I would abduct my brother's GI Joe. I hated wearing dresses, and still do to this day. I played I was a pirate or an explorer. I climbed trees to read books in the peace of a tree. I wanted to go to the Colorado School of Mines, but they didn't accept woman at the time. I was in heaven, when in the late 60s, my high school allowed girls to wear pants, jeans or heaven forbid those really short miniskirts, which were the only dresses/skirts that I did like to wear.
In the mid 70s I met and married my husband and we were together for almost 37 years. I look back at all the things that have occurred in all these years and it saddens me to see this amount of hate and angst. I never have fit the mold of being a girl/woman. My favorite color has been purple all of my life. Someone, once told me that was because my being vibrated at a higher level. Maybe that is why I am so accepting.
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Bishop William Dusenberry, DD
Anything called a school, that uses indoctrination (brainwashing) into one specific point of view, only — should by force of law — no longer be able to refer to their places of indoctrination, as a school; schools are places to learn, not to be indoctrinated. Ditto: universities and colleges. If their primary objective is to indoctrinate, and/or brainwash, Notre Dame should be called Notre Dame Institute of Indoctrination, instead of Notre Dame University. Parochial Schools, should be renamed Parochial Establishments of Indoctrination. And, be reminded, parochial means narrow minded, which should not be followed by “school.”
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
you basically described churches and, religion in general
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Pamela Kay Waters
This stuff does not need to be brought up in school. Bad enough it's happening anyway but home is where this needs to stay. You are born a female with female parts or you are born a male with male parts. You are born this way for a reason WHY MESS it up. Unless you are born looking like a female down there but actually you are a male too with your stuff up inside. The people of this world is getting sicker in the head as the days goes on. What do people that care think what their god thinks
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Matthew Mastrogiovanni
Once again the church chooses hate.
Parochial school leadership can be heartless. My family member, one of a Catholic Elem. school's best teachers, was terminated for a minor religious issue they considered critical. Who lost? The kids in the Catholic school. Who won? The kids across town in the Lutheran school who knew her reputation as a teacher and hired her in a nanosecond. She thrived in her new less restrictive school environment and although raised as a Catholic soon afterward left Catholicism. Unfortunately rigidity and intolerance are the dark side of many religions