Lindsey Vroegindewey, who owns the children’s bookstore Big Sky Life Books, has been called out for her homophobic views after refusing to continue selling a children’s book after spotting LGBTQ+ people in the illustrations for the story. The book in question, A Green Place to be: The Creation of Central Park by author and illustrator, Ashley Benham Yazdani was deemed ‘not wholesome enough’ to be stocked in the bookstore. Vroegindewey’s reasoning for this ban from her store was simply due to the illustration of two men getting married in the famous New York park.
A Green Place to be: The Creation of Central Park is Ashley Benham Yazdani’s first book, and is fact-based about the conception of Manhattan’s impressive green space, accompanied by beautiful colour illustrations that bring the park right up to the modern-day. Yazdani has since published a further book, Cosmic Wonder: Halley’s Comet and Humankind in 2023, and has also illustrated another author’s book.
Author Ashley Benham Yazdani issued her own statement on Instagram in response to Lindsey Vroegindewey’s comments, and the subsequent outpouring of love for the book from the LGBTQ+ community and allies. Yazdani explained that the page in question features the park today with lots of tiny people including her old school teacher, parents, husband, and of course the gay wedding. She goes on to say that it feels like homophobic censorship to pull a book from the shelves due to the image but that it is the bookseller’s choice, and she would no longer wish her book to be sold at the store anyway.
Yazdani continues that these parks were made for everyone, and that her book showcases that inclusion.
A Green Place to be features an illustrated double-page, featuring a gay wedding taking place in the background, among many other illustrated figures.
In the video’s caption, the author writes: “I’m proud to stand up for LGBTQ rights and am grateful to see so many people standing alongside me. There is so much beautiful diversity in our world, and I am committed to sharing it in my books wherever possible.”
In a video on Instagram, Vroegindewey claimed ‘A Green Place to be’: “does not meet our high standards of wholesome family values,” stating, “If you look on the last page on the upper right, you’ll see a gay wedding ceremony.”
Paul Castle, a blind, LGBTQ+ children’s book illustrator – whose own book The Secret Ingredient was banned from another bookstore due to LGBTQ+ themes – was one of many people voicing outrage at Vroegindewey’s homophobic attitude. Paul explained: “A ‘wholesome family’ is one that doesn’t spread hate and discrimination. So, she needs to check her moral compass on that one.”
