Caught this story on CNN today: Book bans are harming LGBTQ people, advocates say. This online library is fighting back.....first let's clarify, I know the main belief is that censorship is bad, but is it really? Censorship implies standards. It implies you stand for something. If you don't believe in censorship that means anything goes because who can say what is bad and what is good It is all free speech, right?
So when is censorship okay? Many would agree with the idea that students retain their First Amendment rights on school grounds, meaning they are free to express thoughts and ideas even those that may not always be appropriate such as on topics like religion, sex, or politics. However, students in public schools are there to learn and parents are putting their minor children into the hands of adults. Therefore adults running the school have the right to censor or discipline a student's speech when deemed not appropriate. The same goes for materials, groups, etc on school grounds. And let's be honest most of the time the schools let groups get away with things like Bible study while censoring things it deems evil like the After School Satan Club. So it's not just going after the rainbow stuff, it also hates Satan.
People send their children to school for academic subjects like writing, science, history, math, etc.... one thing parents don't send their kids to school is to explore their sexuality (that's what university is for). And those who do are failing. So it can be understandable why parents are calling for LGBTQ+ books to be banned from school libraries across the country.
Take for example All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson “a memoir-manifesto” This book has landed on the hot list since it was released because it's labeled as 'young adult' yet covers topics like molestation, genitalia, violence, and a good old dose of trauma. Great. If this book is allowed in libraries it should be shelved right next to the Manson bio Long Hard Road Out of Hell which also covers topics like sexuality, genitalia, and violence. What's the difference? Oh, the Manson one is a bit more fun... and he's a straight white man so who cares? He's a rapist now apparently (pff)
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe is another woke book parents have a problem with. It's a comic that covers all the normal talking points, introducing teens to pronouns and gender ideology and basically making them question if the sky is really blue, are they really just boring and straight? No. they can be preachy and 'queer' instead. Parents complain it is sexually explicit which of course it is but because it is following approved left-wing talking points and the author is part of the 'queer' community it's okay, no critical thought is required.
Now are parents just being stuffy and uptight? Eh... it's tough to say, maybe or maybe not. But realistically these are adult concepts presented in a YA format. Many of the banned books involved trans ideology which is an idea children can't fully wrap their minds around. They say they can because teenagers know everything but if that's the case why can't they get tattoos or vote until they are 18? For most adults being a teen was a mess. It's confusing and you're uncomfortable a lot of the time. Books like these might be helpful for some kids but for the rest, it muddies the water and makes what should be straightforward concepts like male and female and makes them confusing. This seems especially true for teenage girls who are very suspectable to social contagions. When groups of girls transition or when they start cutting or whatever, why does it always seem to be concentrated within a friend group rather than naturally spread out amongst the population? Because it's not natural.
Sure, some books involve LGBTQ+ themes that aren't self-indulgent ranting masquerading as memoirs or propaganda. Classics like Orlando by Virginia Woolf, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, or one of my favs Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange. These books are stories that have elements of sexuality to them because humans are sexual beings. Do they belong in school? Eh... probably not. But that shouldn't stop kids from exploring and finding the material.
School is a place to go and learn like work is a place to go and work. Yeah, there are social aspects to it but society seems to placing a lot on the shoulders of the public school system which is already carrying a heavy load. Parents have to work. They are sending their child to learn about history not to ponder the idea of top surgery.
Just like true crime, Marilyn Manson memoirs, or the Bible don't have a place in school neither should books that seek to go around the parent and turn what might be a phase (I knew lots of guys who wore make-up and nail polish but they didn't think they were women they just liked black metal) into a full-blown identity crisis. Kids are exploring and learning about themselves, and introducing extreme concepts like there are no boys and girls but you can be a them/they or a wolf or an IT, doesn't help it hinders.
Taking books like these out of libraries might seem a bit extreme but is it more extreme than a teen who IDs as a cat? Teachers get paid shit to educate children. They don't have time for all of this other stuff. That is what parents and the family system are for.
I think if school libraries can't carry Jenna Jameson's memoir How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale then we don't need books teaching kids to question whether or not they want to muff dive. Spoiler! Give it a few years and you'll figure it out pretty fast.
Wondering why LGBTQ+ acceptance is going down? Because of stuff like this that says we need it and we need to like it or we're shameful, bad, evil, blah blah blah DIE DIE DIE! There is nothing wrong with a parent wanting to send their kid to school to learn about boring old regular history and not LGBTQ+ history. If kids want to learn about LGBTQ+ its called a bookstore. Go to one. They need your support.