Recently Book bans have been on the rise. For a book to be banned from a library or school it means that a person or group of people have objected to its content. Any attempt to have a book banned is called a challenge. Public schools and libraries have boards of elected officials who hold the power to remove certain books from the schools or libraries they oversee. This is happening all over the country. Unfortunately book bans are not a new occurrence. However this time the main targets include books about LGBTQ identities. Targets are also mostly non white authors and books pertaining to people of color. This issue is important to highlight because having diversity among books available is so important. Everyone should be able to see themselves represented in what they read. The book that is the most banned in the US right now is Gender Queer.
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In the past year the American Library Association (ALA) tracked as many as 1651 targeted books and 651 attempts at banning library resources. Book banning unusually starts at a local level by groups like Moms for Liberty. Sometimes a simple Facebook post or group spurs a local uproar that results in certain books being challenged or removed. The chart below shows how many books were banned as of 2022. However this number has increased and currently Texas has the most banned books at 713, followed by Pennsylvania at 456, then Florida at 204.
In several states right wing politicians have started off the legislative year by proposing new bills directly targeting books and reading. This is an example of a bill from Indiana. (Indiana SB 12)
Not only is the bill itself a huge problem but the wording itself is so vague. How do they define material deemed “harmful to minors.”
Another example of this can be shown directly is in Florida via Duval County public schools. Where a substitute teacher named Brian Covey started working to help combat a teacher shortage. He recently posted a picture showing empty bookshelves as a result of the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis restrictive policies on education.
Unfortunately after sharing this photo and a few second video clips Brian was fired from the school district and his staffing agency due to the school district calling his post misleading and politicizing. However in reality under the state's new laws only around 6000 books have been approved. Which means that in Duval County specifically around 0.375 percent of the 1.6 million titles had said still need to be reviewed.
Book banning is not only a local or state level issue. Recently George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene have co-sponsored a bill which aims to ban books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes from U.S. schools.
The specific text of the bill has yet to be uploaded to any government websites. However it is known that the bill aims to strip funding from schools that make specific material available to students and prevent publishers from “knowingly furnishing sexually explicit material” to schools. It is a known fact that when right wingers say sexually explicit material they mean things that contain LGBTQ+ subjects or themes. This specific bill has currently been sent to the Judiciary and Education committee for consideration.
References
“Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Ban Books.” PEN America, 3 Jan. 2023, pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/.
Jensen, Kelly. “Proposed Legislation in Several States to Eliminate LGBTQ+, ‘Obscene’ Books: Book Censorship News, January 20, 2023.” BOOK RIOT, 19 Jan. 2023, bookriot.com/book-ban-legislation-2023/.
“Map: Book Bans on The Rise.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 26 Apr. 2022, www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/map-book-bans-rise-rcna25898.
McMenamin, Lexi. “Florida Teacher Fired after Showing Empty Library Shelves on Social Media.” Them, Them., 21 Feb. 2023, www.them.us/story/florida-desantis-teacher-fired-books?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=DHStories&utm_brand=them&utm_content=instagram-stories&utm_social-type=owned.
Ncac. “Anti-LGBTQ Book Legislation Proceeds in Multiple States.” National Coalition Against Censorship, 8 Apr. 2021, ncac.org/news/lgbtq-book-ban-legislation-2021.
O'Connell-Domenech, Alejandra. “The Five States with the Most Book Bans .” The Hill,The Hill, 7 Apr. 2022, thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/3261964-the-five-states-with-the-most-book-bans/.
Riedel, Samantha. “Marjorie Taylor Greene and George Santos Are Teaming up to Ban LGBTQ+ Books.” Them, Them., 16 Feb. 2023, www.them.us/story/marjorie-taylor-greene-george-santos-book-ban?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=DHStories&utm_brand=them&utm_content=instagram-stories&utm_social-type=owned.
“What Books Are Being Banned across the US and Why?” MSN, www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/what-books-are-being-banned-across-the-us-and-why/ar-AA16gqpP.
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