This week in “queer parents being awesome” is the news that author, professor, transgender advocate, and parent Jennifer Finney Boylan has been named president and chair of PEN America, the century-old organization dedicated to defending writers and free expression.
This week marks Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) annual event highlighting the value of the freedom to read and drawing attention to the harms of censorship. With record numbers of bans across the country, the need for such awareness is greater than ever. But I’m also here to remind us: It’s about more than just the books.
Non-profit Pride and Less Prejudice, which has donated over 10,000 LGBTQ-inclusive picture books to elementary school classrooms since 2019, is holding a virtual auction through this weekend so they can send 1,200 more. Check out some of the amazing offerings!
A new study looks at parents’ perceptions of public libraries and the current issues they face, including book bans and how people feel about children’s books that touch on sometimes sensitive topics: LGBTQ+ characters, race/racism, social justice, and sexual education.
A Florida school district in July ordered its librarians to remove all books with LGBTQ characters or themes from classrooms and libraries. While the district later asserted that such books are still allowed in high school libraries, there is evidence that many have been removed from them as well.
One last roundup before 2022 winds to a close! Here are some of the stories of LGBTQ parents and our kids that I haven’t covered already.
What were the major advances—and setbacks—for LGBTQ families in 2022? I asked several leading experts to share their thoughts, and all agreed there had been many obstacles—but also reasons for hope.
Non-profit Pride and Less Prejudice, which has donated over 7,500 LGBTQ-inclusive picture books to elementary school classrooms in the U.S. and Canada since its founding in 2019, is holding a virtual auction through this weekend so they can send 800 more. Check out some of the amazing offerings!
This week marks Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) annual celebration of the freedom to read—but this year feels more like a call to action than a celebration. Book bans and other attempts at censorship, largely targeting the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities, are raging across the country. Here’s what’s happening, how others are fighting back, and how you can help.
It’s Banned Books Week, during a year that has seen record numbers of bans and challenges. Let’s kick things off by looking at some of the picture books that have been targeted recently for being LGBTQ inclusive.
