“Fun Home” won a 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical and is currently a success on Broadway.
Despite its many accolades and the ongoing praise the musical is receiving, incoming Duke University freshmen have refused to read the graphic novel “because its sexual images and themes conflicted with their personal and religious beliefs,” according to Broadway World.
The graphic novel, which was written by Alison Bechdel, reportedly chronicles her relationship with her father and her issues with sexual identity. It all started when freshman Brian Grasso posted in the Class of 2019 Facebook page that he would not be reading the book, sparking a conversation among other incoming freshmen.
“I feel as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it,” Grasso wrote in the July 26 post, according to the Duke Chronicle.
Freshman Jeffrey Wubbenhorst added in an email, “The nature of ‘Fun Home’ means that content that I might have consented to read in print now violates my conscience due to its pornographic nature.”
Many students reportedly privately messaged Grasso, thanking him for his post.
“There is so much pressure on Duke students, and they want so badly to fit in. But at the end of the day, we don’t have to read the book,” explained Grasso.
Despite the recent backlash, many students have also supported the book selection.
“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,” wrote freshman Marivi Howell-Arza.
Sherry Zhang, a member of the summer reading book selection committee and co-chair of the First-Year Advisory Counsel Board, reportedly stated that the decision to read the assigned book is ultimately up to each individual student.
“I would encourage them to talk about why they chose to read it or not,” stated Zhang.