The author of a sex education book which was at the centre of protests at libraries in Ireland this summer has said she wrote the book to give pre-teens and young teens fact-based information about issues they had already read about online.
Juno Dawson, who is the author of This Book Is Gay, also said she was concerned by protests about the book and believes in her view that "it sometimes feels like we haven't moved on" from previous decades.
Speaking on The Late Late Show, Ms Dawson said regarding her book - which was the subject of pro and anti protests at libraries this summer and has been the subject of debate over its age appropriateness - the reality is pre-teens and young teens already have this information.
"I used to be a sex education teacher, and I knew there was a hole in the curriculum where there just wasn't enough information for LGBTQ+ teens," she said, adding the information given by schools was in her view lacking real information pupils wanted to know about.
"We [previous generations] didn't have broadband when we were 12 years old, so we realised in terms of the teaching we were doing the horse had bolted," she said.
Asked about the protests at libraries between those in favour and those opposed to her book over the summer, Ms Dawson - who was born male and transitioned to a woman as an adult - said "it sometimes feels like we haven't moved on" from previous decades.
She said: "People might be protesting my book, but really they're protesting my existence," adding "do we really want people telling us what we can and can't read - banning one book, I don't really see where that journey ends".
Ms Dawon's book This Book Is Gay has been at the centre of multiple protests by those in favour of and against its availability to pre-teens and young teens throughout this year.
This has included a number of protests at public libraries in Ireland.
While opponents have made complaints about the sexualised nature of the information contained in the book, those in favour of its availability say it is providing information to young teens.
