A Florida school district has put labels on over 100 books warning that some people feel they are “unsuitable for students.” They include a book that depicts same-sex parents caring for their babies, picture books about transgender and gender creative children, and the real-life story of a same-sex penguin pair. What’s next? Warning labels on LGBTQ students and those with LGBTQ parents?
The Collier County School District put “Advisory Notice to Parent” labels on more than 100 physical books and their online catalog entries, declaring “this book has been identified by some community members as unsuitable for students.” The books, from board books up through young adult titles, “disproportionately include stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters and plot lines and titles about communities of color,” reported PEN America.
This should surprise no one who has been following the horrible impact of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay/LGBTQ” law, not to mention the recent ramp-up in book bans and challenges around the country. Nevertheless, Collier’s list should remind us all once again that these laws, bans, and warnings are not just about keeping sexual content away from kids (although that’s part of their stated goal). They’re about erasing identities.
Take Everywhere Babies, in particular, which is about as appropriate as a children’s book could possibly be. It’s pictures of babies, sometimes with their parents, doing things babies do, like eating and sleeping and playing. That’s it. That’s the story. Yes, some of them have two moms or two dads. Imply that the book is “unsuitable,” and you’re implying that families with same-sex parents are unsuitable, too.
Some of the picture books on the Collier list do look at LGBTQ identities more directly (while one, Red: A Crayon’s Story, isn’t necessarily about LGBTQ identities at all, though it has been interpreted that way). Argue that kids aren’t old enough to read about such families or identities, however, and you’re saying that children shouldn’t be in such families or have those identities. Those who think so fail to realize that children with LGBTQ parents have known about LGBTQ identities essentially since they were born (or since they were adopted or their parents came out), and they’re doing just fine, thanks. Children also often know their own gender identities at very early ages. Providing books and media that depict LGBTQ families and identities (and those of other marginalized identities) in positive ways is not inappropriate; it is necessary. All children benefit greatly from seeing positive representations of families like theirs and people like them—as well as seeing people like others in their communities and the wider world. Labeling these depictions as “unsuitable” tells these children that they and their families are likewise unsuitable. It also implies that any mentions of LGBTQ families or identities outside of books—say, when a child talks about their own family or gender—are likewise unsuitable and should be silenced.
What about the 46 percent of titles on the list, all for older children, that include “sexual content, including educational books about sexual health,” according to PEN America? I would argue that those are all appropriate for the age groups they target, too; many, if not all, have been vetted and touted by educators and librarians who are professionals training in making such evaluations. If particular parents don’t want their own children reading particular books, that’s up to them. They shouldn’t push their choices on others, though—and that includes labeling the books so as to imply they are inappropriate.
Transgender and nonbinary people are taking the brunt of the right-wing attacks in Florida and around the country. That’s awful, and we should be fighting tooth and nail to stop such attacks for the sake of trans and nonbinary people alone. But if you think this is just about trans and nonbinary people, or books, or sexual content, you’re sadly and dangerously mistaken. The entire LGBTQ community is being targeted for erasure, along with other marginalized communities, as other advocates have also noted. And the ones who will suffer the most harm are the children.
Picture books on the Collier list are:
- Prince & Knight, by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis (Little Bee)
- Red: A Crayon’s Story, by Michael Hall (Greenwillow Books)
- I am Jazz, by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas (Dial)
- Antiracist Baby, by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky (Kokila)
- Julián Is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love (Candlewick)
- When Aidan Became A Brother, by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (Lee & Low)
- Everywhere Babies, by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Houghton Mifflin)
- Sparkle Boy, by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Maria Mola (Lee & Low)
- And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole (Little Simon)
- It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity, by Theresa Thorn, illustrated by Noah Grigni (Henry Holt)
See also the full list, including middle grade and young adult titles. For ways to fight book bans and challenges, see my LGBTQ Back-to-School Resources List.
