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.
Last week, I reported that author Robin Stevenson said school officials cancelled a talk she was scheduled to give at an elementary school in Illinois because her latest book profiled Harvey Milk, among other famous activists. It seems a parent did complain about Milk—but the school was also concerned about the inclusion of Janet Mock, who is transgender.
Just days after author Robin Stevenson said she was uninvited from a recent school talk because her newest book discusses Harvey Milk, Lesléa Newman, author of the classic Heather Has Two Mommies, writes that she was uninvited from a visit to two different schools because of her LGBTQ-inclusive books.
An Illinois school district canceled an author’s visit to an elementary school to talk about her new book on the childhoods of 16 famous activists (among them Martin Luther King, Jr. and Alexander Hamilton), because a parent complained that one of the activists included was Harvey Milk, says the author.
This week is Banned Books Week, the annual event from the American Library Association (ALA) honoring the freedom to read! Half of the books in the ALA’s latest Top Ten Most Challenged Books list are there because someone objected to their LGBTQ content—underscoring how much work is yet to be done on the path to equity and justice. Here are some ways you can support Banned Books Week and the authors behind books that have faced challenges!
Alabama Public Television is refusing to show an episode of the beloved show Arthur on PBS Kids because it depicts two male characters getting married. Contact them to let them know how you feel!
A picture book about LGBTQ-rights hero Harvey Milk is gaining support among parents and others after some parents in Hanover County, Virginia, objected to it being read in a second-grade classroom. The teacher had read the book after one child in the class was called “gay” in a negative way.
A Maryland middle school musical was cancelled just two weeks from its first performance. School officials say it is because of profanity in the script, but others say it is because one of the characters has gay dads.
A majority of titles in the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) latest annual list of the Top 11 Most Challenged Books were challenged or banned because of their LGBTQ content. Two of the books were also burned.
