Around New England

High School Recommends ‘Gender Fluid’ Teen Novel on Summer Reading List

Matthew McDonald

The summer reading list at Auburn High School in central Massachusetts includes a book about a "gender fluid" teen-ager trying to navigate around his congressman father in "uber conservative" Orange County in southern California. Some days the main character is a boy, some days the main character is a girl.

Should Fate of Native American Mascots Be Decided By Beacon Hill?
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Should Fate of Native American Mascots Be Decided By Beacon Hill?

Evan Lips

BOSTON — The long-simmering question of whether school districts or the state should determine which sports mascots are acceptable reached a boil on Tuesday, as Beacon Hill lawmakers received an earful of testimony from both Native Americans and non-Native Americans claiming that sports names such as "Redmen" and "Indians" wreak havoc on various individuals' quality of life.

Only one non-legislator spoke out against the bill, introduced by state Senator Barbara L'Italien (D-Andover), "an act to prohibit the use of Native American mascots by public schools in the commonwealth."

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