By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – In a topic that has stirred intense emotions on both sides of the issue for 15 months in St. Tammany Parish, perhaps the biggest show of emotion on the matter was seen last week in the Parish Council chambers when a 13-year-old boy took to the podium.
Levi Seals Gregory, who has lived through the death of his father, Slidell Police Officer Jason Seals who died in the line of duty on Nov. 17, 2018, wanted council members and others to understand how he felt about the situation involving sexually explicit books being available to children in St. Tammany public libraries.
Seals was allowed to be the first speaker of the night at the public hearing since, as Chairman Jake Airey said, “he has to get to school in the morning.”
Seals approached the podium with his mother, Kristen Gregory, by his side and began to read his prepared letter, quickly showing the expected nervousness for taking on such an adult task.
“My name is Levi Seals Gregory, and I am 13 years old,” he started as his voice began to shake. “My mom loves to read and has done her best to pass along that love to my sister and I. We read a chapter book every week or two right now.
“We access the library regularly through various means, including HOOPLA, but when she started seeing what kind of books….”
At that point Gregory began to cry and fought back tears through his statement, still determined to get through.
He talked about the fact his father was a police officer who spent his professional career protecting people, but now the 13-year-old felt obligated to take that on in place of his dad.
“Since he isn’t here, and I am his oldest son, now it is my turn to step up and be the protector as my dad was,” he said.
Gregory then read a portion of the book “Flamer” that included numerous sexual references, as well as frequent mentions of the “f” word, as well as other cuss words.
After reading the excerpts, Gregory made a frequent point similar to critics of the books.
“If a movie had these words in it as much as the book does, the movie would be rated ‘R’ and a child under 18 would only be allowed into the theater with a parent. Why is it that a child can pull a book (like this) off the shelf and read it or check it out without a parent? BUT they can’t hear it in a movie. This is a double standard that needs to be changed and shows the library board isn’t protecting kids, and Hollywood is doing a better job.”
Gregory ended his speech by saying:
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. My mom is raising me to be a good man like my dad, so I will not stand back and do nothing like y’all are doing, but I hope that changes after tonight, seeing a 13-year-old child doing more than you are in protecting other kids like me.”
Even though Airey clearly stated there would be no applause after any speeches, Gregory immediately got the largest cheer of the night as he walked away with his mother’s arm around him.