The United States are such a large place. And there are some states and some cities where the questions of gender or sexuality would not be asked, or where scholars or academics are working in small little corners of the universities trying to raise these questions and being told that either that they're strange or not appropriate or being actively opposed. There are other places where there is very active scholarship going on. Certainly on gender.
As the child approaches a new text he is entitled to an introduction so that when he reads, the gist of the. . . story can provide some guide for a fluent reading.