Staples bans conservative activist who warned parents of graphic LGBT books in school libraries: ‘Jarring’

FIRST ON FOX: A Pennsylvania man says that a top office supply company canceled his online mailbox and banned him after his political action group sent out mailings warning registered voters of sexually provocative reading material being placed in local school libraries.

Bob Salera, founder of Stop Bucks Extremism (SBE) in Bucks County, told FOX Business on Tuesday that his online mailbox, run by the company iPostal1, was deactivated by Staples after the office supply retailer claimed he violated company policy by sending registered voters two political mailings inside sealed envelopes with an “explicit content” disclaimer that contained graphic images from books he says Democrats are pushing in local school libraries.

In an email obtained by FOX Business, a representative from the office of Staples’ president, which Salera says was “out of the blue,” told him that his iPostal mailbox was being “terminated” due to him violating a user agreement related to offensive treatment of employees.

The letter said that “management has been extremely patient” with Salera “up to this point” and that the company had taken “all reasonable steps to satisfy your needs as a customer” but did not yield any “success.”

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Salera told FOX Business he was perplexed, given that he had never stepped foot in the Staples location and had not interacted with any employees.

“I asked for clarification on the situation because it’s a security risk if I’m being impersonated or something, and they clarified that it was a mailing using the mailbox return address that was offensive to their customers,” Salera said. 

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Staples is believed to have taken issue with two separate but similar mailings to registered voters in Bucks County, one in September and one in October, that encouraged Republicans to vote early and against Democrat school board candidates who support sexually explicit books in school libraries. 

The mailer includes images from one of the books, “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” that shows illustrations of two men engaging in oral sex and another book, titled “This Book Is Gay,” that outlines different ways for men to sexually pleasure each other. 

According to the American Library Association, “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe, was the No. 1 title on the most challenged books in 2022 for the second year in a row. The book has been challenged for LGBTQIA+ and sexually explicit content.

“The images were taken from an iPhone picture of the books that Democrats want in schools,” Salera said. “The only difference between us and them is that we’re not making these images available to minors, which the Democrats want to do, it was sent inside a sealed envelope with a disclaimer warning there were sexually explicit photos inside.”

Salera says the company told him that “many people” complained because they were “highly upset” over the content of the mailers and declined his request for the company to reconsider closing his account given that the decision came just weeks before Election Day.

Salera said Staples stopped responding to his messages when he asked them to confirm it will not reverse the ban.

“It’s just kind of jarring to be banned from an office supply store because of my protected political speech,” Salera told FOX Business.

A leading Washington, D.C.-based political law firm that reviewed the situation concluded that Salera did not violate the law and faces “no legal jeopardy to send these materials through the United States mail enclosed in a sealed envelope and marked with a disclaimer.”

FOX Business reached out to Staples for comment and to inquire whether it would refrain from working with school districts that disseminated the material that Salera’s account was terminated for mailing. 

Staples did not respond to multiple inquiries.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.