A bill introduced in both houses of the Tennessee Legislature would prohibit public schools from using textbooks or instructional materials “that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles.”
In the past month, school districts in two states have tried to ban Call Me Max, a delightful picture book about a transgender boy by a transgender author, calling it “not appropriate” for the children who heard it read to them. This would be awful at any time, but at a moment when trans youth are under threat from anti-trans bills in at least 24 states, it feels like the tip of a much bigger iceberg.
A group of patrons has asked for LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books to be removed from the children’s section of a Louisiana public library and made available for checkout only by adults. The library board is set to discuss the matter this afternoon.
Once again, it’s Banned Books Week—and a new list of the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books from the last decade reminds us that LGBTQ-inclusive books for kids remain among the most (needlessly) controversial.
Award-winning author Phil Bildner was set to do a virtual visit with a group of fourth graders this month, when the school’s parents’ association suddenly informed him that he couldn’t talk about his latest book—a middle-grade novel about a boy coming out as gay. They then canceled his event. Bildner’s response, in which he chooses not to publicly name the school, reminds us that there are many factors to consider in keeping LGBTQ youth safe—especially in a time of pandemic.
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, the 2008 picture book about a girl worried that her favorite uncle will no longer have time for her after he marries his boyfriend, is coming out today in a bright new edition. The anthropomorphic guinea pigs are gone, replaced by human characters—and author Sarah Brannen was kind enough to answer some questions for Mombian readers about the changes.
Eight of the titles in the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) latest annual list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books were challenged or banned because of their LGBTQIA+ content. That’s unfortunately not surprising—but some other new trends this year add to concerns about censorship.
Let’s end the week with a roundup of a few things I haven’t covered yet—family stories, some political bits, and school-related news!
The Show Me State could become the “Don’t Show Me” state, as a proposed Missouri bill would fine or even jail librarians who lend books to children that a local five-person “parental library review board” thinks are inappropriate. And yes, books that discuss or represent “sexuality” are among the categories that may be deemed inappropriate.
At least three communities—in California, Virginia, and West Virginia—are facing recent attempts to ban LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books. Here’s what’s happening—and how you can fight censorship in your communities.
