Students say Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel, which has gay themes, conflicts with their values.
Incoming freshmen at Duke University are refusing to read their summer reading book, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, because they say it conflicts with their moral and religious beliefs.
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The graphic novel is a memoir that addresses themes of sexuality, gender, and family, and is described as a "family tragicomic."
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
And it's seen much success, including the musical based on it winning the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical in June.
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The paper reported that a student named Brian Grasso posted in the Duke Class of 2019 Facebook page that he felt, "...as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it."
While Gasso's Facebook comments struck a chord with many other students, others disagreed with his views.
"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," freshman Marivi Howell-Arza wrote in a Facebook comment, The Chronicle reported.
The committee that selected the book for summer reading expected the novel choice to be polarizing, one student said.
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Duke Students Are Refusing To Read "Fun Home" Because Of Their Religious Beliefs