The Forsyth County School System and an author are at odds after the author described a person connected to the subject matter of his book as being gay during presentations at elementary schools in the district.
Marc Tyler Nobleman, the author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, spoke to fifth graders at Sharon Elementary in Suwanee Monday about his book, which details the late Bill Finger's role in the creation of the Batman character. While Nobleman told AccessWDUN he did describe someone as gay during his presentations, he said it was key information for the content of the book and the research surrounding the topic.
Nobleman said Finger had gone uncredited for decades, with the original artist behind Batman, Bob Kane, taking all of the credit. When he first began his research on the matter in the mid-2000s, Nobleman was hopeful that Finger would have a descendant to legally fight for credit. However, Nobleman later discovered Finger's only child, Fred, was gay and had died in 1992.
"I automatically assumed that there were no heirs, because at that time ... [Fred] wouldn't have been allowed to adopt, and I'd never heard of a biological child," Nobleman said. "It turns out that Fred did have a child, which means Bill had a grandchild, which means there's an heir to Bill Finger, which means that someone can legally fight for credit for Bill Finger. It was the turning point for this whole story."
But Brian Nelson, principal of Sharon Elementary, said in an email to the school's community that they were unaware that Nobleman would include the content pertaining to Fred Finger being gay in his presentation.
"Mr. Nobleman encouraged our students to find their passions and be resilient, which align with Sharon Elementary’s beliefs and resonated well with our students," Nelson said. "As Mr. Nobleman chronicled the tale, he included that [Fred] Finger was “gay”. This is not subject matter that we were aware that he was including nor content that we have approved for our students."
Nelson went on to apologize to the school community in the wake of the presentation.
"I apologize that this took place," Nelson said. "Action was taken to ensure that this was not included in Mr. Nobleman’s subsequent speeches and further measures will be taken to prevent situations like this in the future."
Nobleman said he typically does not discuss every portion of his talks with school staff beforehand due to logistical reasons behind the number of schools he gives talks at, as well as his status as an established author.
"It's not even the point of my story, it's just a fact along with 600 other facts that I threw at them," Nobleman said. "None of which I cleared with them. None of which are or are not officially on the state standards list. I just came to enrich these kids, give the teachers some tools to excite kids about research and writing, which I did."
Jennifer Caracciolo, chief communications officer for Forsyth County Schools, said the topic is not in the state's elementary standards.
"We appreciate that the school was proactively transparent and for their willingness to discuss any concerns with parents/guardians," Caracciolo said.
Nobleman said he first spoke at Sharon Elementary on Monday, but went on to speak at Daves Creek Elementary on Tuesday and Settles Bridge Elementary on Wednesday. He said he did not use the word "gay" during his three talks Tuesday after speaking with school officials. However, Nobleman said his opinion on temporarily withholding from using the word during his talks changed after reading the letter Nelson sent to the Sharon Elementary community.
"I didn't want to leave it out in the first place, but when I saw that it was being spun in that way ... it was infuriating and insulting," Nobleman said.
In response, Nobleman said he included the use of the word gay during his first talk Wednesday at Settles Bridge Elementary.
"After that, I was asked to leave it out for the other two [talks], and when I refused to do that, I was asked to leave," Nobleman said.
After more than 20 years of speaking at schools all over the world, Nobleman said this is the first time he has experienced issues of this level pertaining to his book and research.
"I've had pushback a few times from principals or administrators about the fact that I say someone in my story is gay," Nobleman said. "It's never come to this. It's unsettling, it's insulting to a portion of our population. It's beyond me that this happened."
The full statement from Sharon Elementary Principal Brian Nelson is below:
Good afternoon, Sharon 5th grade families,
As trust and transparency are foundational to our partnership, I am reaching out to make you aware of subject matter that was brought up today by a guest author during his speech to our 5th grade students.
Marc Tyler Nobleman is the award-winning author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, a book about Bill Finger’s role in the creation of the comic book character Batman. Mr. Nobleman encouraged our students to find their passions and be resilient, which align with Sharon Elementary’s beliefs and resonated well with our students. As Mr. Nobleman chronicled the tale, he included that [Fred] Finger was “gay”. This is not subject matter that we were aware that he was including nor content that we have approved for our students.
I apologize that this took place. Action was taken to ensure that this was not included in Mr. Nobleman’s subsequent speeches and further measures will be taken to prevent situations like this in the future. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. I appreciate your continued support of our school and staff.
Sincerely,
Brian Nelson
