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All across the United States, book bans have been enacted to try and get rid of books on the basis of "pornographic material" aka anything related to the queer community. Many of these claims are rooted in extremely homophobic values. This interests me as I have been the kid in the library looking for books I can relate to. I understand how important it is to feel normal and feel like I'm not dirty or wrong for being who I am. It is such an isolating feeling, seeing people around you start to date and never knowing if you would experience the same. Or even if you do, having to live with the fear of what others think. All of these feelings can start so young, sometimes books and media are the only way to feel safe in yourself.

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This article outlines the different ways books are being targeted by the government/communities and the respective backlash or support they are receiving. Both sides are argued for through comments from concerned citizens. This article doesn't seem to argue one way or another, mostly just conveys facts and shares the opinions of others.

This source is useful as it explains how these books are being banned and lists the legislation in effect. It also offers a wide variety of perspectives on the topic. This source seems to be generally unbiased, but the website is left-leaning.

This source was helpful to me as it explained the different bills in charge of the bans and explained the given reasoning behind them. This can help people care about my issue as it provides first-hand accounts of how people are being negatively affected by the new laws. It can pull on people's emotions and further convince them to support protests against the issue.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Teri Patrick bristles at the idea she wants to ban books about LGBTQ issues in Iowa schools, arguing her only goal is ridding schools of sexually explicit material.

Sara Hayden Parris says that whatever you want to call it, it's wrong for some parents to think a book shouldn't be readily available to any child if it isn't right for their own child.

The viewpoints of the two mothers from suburban Des Moines underscore a divide over LGBTQ content in books as Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds pushes an especially sweeping crackdown on content in Iowa school libraries. The bill she's backing could result in the removal of books from school libraries in all of the state's 327 districts if they're successfully challenged in any one of them.

School boards and legislatures nationwide also are facing questions about books and considering making it easier to limit access.

"We're seeing these challenges arise in almost every state of the union," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. "It's a national phenomenon."

Longstanding disagreements about content in school libraries often focus this year on books with LGBTQ themes as policymakers nationwide also consider limiting or banning gender-affirming care and drag shows, allowing the deadnaming of transgender students or adults in the workplace, and other measures targeting LGBTQ people.

The trend troubles Kris Maul, a transgender man who is raising a 12-year-old with his lesbian partner in the Des Moines area and wants school library books to reflect all kinds of families and children. Maul argued that those seeking to remove books take passages out of context and unfairly focus on books about LGBTQ or racial justice issues.

LGBTQ people are more visible than even five years ago, Maul said, and he believes that has led to a backlash from some who hope limiting discussion will return American society to an era that didn't acknowledge people with different sexualities.

"People are scared because they don't think LGBTQ people should exist," Maul said. "They don't want their own children to be LGBTQ, and they feel if they can limit access to these books and materials, then their children won't be that way, which is simply not true and is heartbreaking and disgusting."

In Louisiana, activists fear a push by Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry to investigate sexually explicit materials in public libraries - and recently proposed legislation that could restrict children and teens' access to those books - is being used to target and censor LGBTQ content.

Landry, who is running for governor, launched a statewide tip line in November to field complaints about librarians, teachers, and school and library personnel. Landry released a report in February that listed nine books his office considers "sexually explicit" or inappropriate for children. Seven have LGBTQ storylines.

In Florida, some schools have covered or removed books under a new law that requires an evaluation of reading materials and for districts to publish a searchable list of books where individuals can then challenge specific titles.

The reviews have drawn widespread attention, with images of empty bookshelves ricocheting across social media, and are often accompanied by criticism of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican expected to run for president.

The state's training materials direct the reviews to target sexually explicit materials but also say that schools should "err on the side of caution" when selecting reading materials and that principals are responsible for compliance.

Florida's largest teachers union is challenging the law, arguing its implementation is too broad and leading to unnecessary censorship. An education department spokesperson did not immediately comment.

DeSantis said the state has not instructed schools to empty libraries or cover books. He said 175 books have been removed from 23 school districts, with 87% of the books identified as pornographic, violent or inappropriate for their grade level.

The Iowa legislation comes amid efforts there to keep a closer eye on public school curriculums and make taxpayer money available to parents for private school tuition. Reynolds, the governor, has made such proposals the core of her legislative agenda, telling a conservative parents group that their work was essential to guarding against "indoctrination" by public school educators.

Under a bill backed by Reynolds, the titles and authors of all books available to students in classrooms and libraries would be posted online, and officials would need to specify how parents could request a book's removal and how decisions to retain books could be appealed. When any district removes a book, the state Education Department would add it to a "removal list," and all of Iowa's 326 other districts would have to deny access to the book unless parents gave approval.

At a hearing on Reynolds' bill, Republican lawmakers, who hold huge majorities in both legislative chambers, said they might change the proposal but were committed to seeing it approved. The bill has passed a Senate committee and is awaiting a floor vote.

"The parents are the governing authority in how their child is educated, period," said Sen. Amy Sinclair. "Parents are responsible for their child's upbringing, period."

Patrick, a mother of two, expressed befuddlement about why anyone would want to make sexually explicit books available to children.

"I have to believe that there are books that cater to the LGBTQ community that don't have to have such graphic sexual content in them," said Patrick, a member of a local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that has gained national influence for its efforts to influence school curriculum and classroom learning. "There are very few books that have ever been banned and what we're saying is, in a public school setting, with taxpayer-funding money, should these books really be available to kids?"

Hayden Parris, a mom of two from a suburb only a few miles away, understands the argument but thinks it misses the point.

"A kindergartner is not wandering into the young adults section and picking out a book that is called like, "This Book is Gay," said Hayden Parris, who is leading a parents group opposed to Iowa's proposed law. "They're not picking those books, and the fact that they can pick one out of several thousand books is not a reason to keep it away from everyone."

Sam Helmick, president of the Iowa Library Association, said communities should decide what's in their libraries and that it's important for children to have access to books that address their lives and questions. Helmick didn't have that ability as a child, and students shouldn't return to that time, she said.

"Can we acknowledge that this will have a chilling effect?" Helmick asked. "And when you tell me that books about myself as an asexual, nonbinary person who didn't have those books in libraries when I was a kid to pick up and flip through, but now publishing has caught up with me and I can see representation of me - those will be behind the desk and that's not supposed to make me feel less welcome, less seen and less represented in my library?"

___

Izaguirre reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Cline from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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School library book bans are seen as targeting LGBTQ content

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Teri Patrick bristles at the idea she wants to ban books about LGBTQ issues in Iowa schools, arguing her only goal is ridding schools of sexually explicit material.

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This article lists the statistics of the amount/types of books banned since 2001 and shows that 2022 has had the largest amount ever. The author, Maia Kobabe, of one of these books, "Gender Queer" also speaks from their own experience, sharing how disheartening it is to hear their story isn't appropriate for children.

This source is useful as it gives data on the number of book bans happening. It also gives a unique look into the perspective of those people who are writing these "malicious" books. This article is biased as it only speaks from the perspective of people against the bans, but is still able to provide unbiased facts.

This source is once again helpful as it provides firsthand accounts from an author of these banned books. It also provides solid facts providing the targeting of LGBT books, giving the article credibility. This can help people support my issue by giving them real proof of the disproportionate treatment of queer books and pulling on their emotions to encourage them to support their community.

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As the nation's culture wars rage on in classrooms and libraries, attempts to ban books have reached a record high, and titles with LGBTQ themes remain top targets.

In its annual book censorship report, the American Library Association documented 1,269 challenges to more than 2,500 books in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since the association began tracking such efforts in 2001. It was a 75% jump from 2021, which held the previous record.

Of the 13 books that made the ALA's list of "Most Challenged Books" last year, seven titles - including three of the top four - were challenged for having LGBTQ content, the association found.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said the LGBTQ-heavy list "sends a message of exclusion."

"It's a way of telling young gay and transgender persons that they don't belong in school, that they don't belong to the community," she said. "It sends a message to the LGBTQ community as a whole that they're not considered full citizens with full rights to participate in community institutions like the library."

The ALA reported that, prior to 2020, the "vast majority" of challenges against books were made by individuals who sought to restrict access to a single book their child was reading. But the group found that 90% of last year's challenges were directed at multiple books and nearly a fifth of them were made by "political/religious groups."

The association cited this finding as "evidence of a growing, well-organized, conservative political movement, the goals of which include removing books about race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health from America's public and school libraries that do not meet their approval."

In recent years, conservative lawmakers and activists have rallied around limiting LGBTQ issues being taught in schools, queer symbolism from being displayed in classrooms and transgender athletes from participating in school sports.

Just last week, the Florida Board of Education approved Gov. Ron DeSantis' request to expand the state's so-called Don't Say Gay law - which restricts the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in the state's public schools - to all grades. Previously, the law only explicitly applied to children in kindergarten through third grade.

Last year's most challenged book was the award-winning memoir "Gender Queer," which also topped the ALA's 2021 list of most banned books.

The illustrated memoir - which chronicles nonbinary author Maia Kobabe's journey of self-identity - has faced unparalleled pushback from school boards and conservative activists around the country in recent years.

"When a book is removed from a library, or a library defunded, it impoverishes the whole community. Books can provide us with reflections of ourselves and windows into other's experiences," Kobabe said in an email. "I know Gender Queer has been both of these for different readers - many of whom have reached out to me in hundreds of messages over the years."

In a previous interview with NBC News, Kobabe acknowledged that parts of their memoir may not be appropriate for elementary school children. However, the author said the book's straightforward accounts could be used to show readers an experience growing up outside of cisgender and heterosexual norms.

"It's very hard to hear people say, 'This book is not appropriate to young people,' when it's like, I was a young person for whom this book would have been not only appropriate, but so, so necessary," Kobabe said. "There are a lot of people who are questioning their gender, questioning their sexuality and having a real hard time finding honest accounts of somebody else on the same journey. There are people for whom this is vital and for whom this could maybe even be lifesaving."

Other titles at the top of the 2022 list include George M. Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue," Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," Mike Curato's "Flamer," John Green's "Looking for Alaska" and Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

Caldwell-Stone said that the group of books - as with all books - should remain on shelves without "fear or favor."

"Everyone is entitled to find books that reflect their interests, their experiences, their backgrounds, their identities on the shelves of a publicly funded library that's there to serve everyone," she said.

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Over half of 2022's most challenged books have LGBTQ themes

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As the nation's culture wars rage on in classrooms and libraries, attempts to ban books have reached a record high, and titles with LGBTQ themes remain top targets. In its annual book censorship report, the American Library Association documented 1,269 challenges to more than 2,500 books in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since the association began tracking such efforts in 2001.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/war-of-words-the-fight-over-banning-books/

This article discusses the fight between political groups and schools. It also introduces a new website named "Books Unbanned" which gives kids access the books that have been deemed "inappropriate" by the state. Viewpoints are offered from the "Moms of Liberty" group as well as librarians and public school teachers affected by this new policy.

This article is helpful to my research as it provides a firsthand account from a teacher, someone who is directly affected by these bans, and shows how she was fired for providing kids access to banned books. This source isn't hugely biased but seems to have a left lean as it spends more time discussing the repercussions of the ban.

Once again, this article is useful as it gives the perspective of a teacher. As teachers are the ones we entrust to watch our children, they hold credibility in the eyes of others. This makes people more likely to listen to them, therefore they would want to help advocate for our teachers.

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/ CBS News

"Catch-22," Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle," "The Great Gatsby," Toni Morrison's "Beloved," "Lord of the Flies," "To Kill a Mockingbird" ... classics, and every one of them banned in some places. Said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, "There was somebody who objected to the profanity, or the challenge to the status quo."

The Chicago Public Library put them on display, in defiance of efforts nationwide to ban books.

Caldwell-Stone's job is to know what's being targeted: "LGBTQIA books. Books [opponents] deemed to be critical race theory, but were actually books on the history of race, racism, slavery in the United States, or representing Black voices, were overwhelmingly being targeted by these demands to remove books."

On Monday, the American Library Association will announce the Most Challenged Books of 2022. Race, controversial aspects of history, vulgarity and violence may be red flags found in a number of books already challenged or banned, but sex and gender are now overwhelmingly the subject matter being attacked, with such books as Juno Dawson's "This Book Is Gay" and Jonathan Evison's "Lawn Boy" targeted - ammunition for Florida's Republican Governor Ron Desantis' war on "woke," which he described in a speech on March 8: "Parents, in their sending kids to school, shouldn't have to worry about this garbage being in the schools."

Books like Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer," an intensely polarizing exploration of gender identity, are at the center of the book battles. "It is a graphic novel, so certainly it's more in-your-face," said Caldwell-Stone. "But it's not intended to titillate; it's intended to provide a window into one person's experience, not knowing their gender identity and needing to explore that."

According to the American Library Association, between 2020 and 2022, the number of individual titles banned spiked more than 1,100%, from 223 to 2,571.

Since 2021, school districts have challenged books in 37 states, with Florida and Texas leading the pack, according to PEN America. Caldwell-Stone said, "These were organized efforts by groups of parents arguing about parents' rights. Moms for Liberty soon came to prominence as a group that was driving a lot of book challenges in local communities."

Founded in 2021 by Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich, both former Florida school board members, the group Moms for Liberty now claims 275 chapters in 45 states, with 115,000 members and counting.

"Never bet against a mom," said Justice. "Nobody's going to defend anything like a mom is going to defend their child."

The two described themselves as "joyful warriors." Their aim: to play hardball, with a smile. "We want people who are serving in elected office that respect the role of the parent in a child's life," said Justice.

Descovich said, "In 2022, our chapters endorsed in over 500 school board races across the country, and they won 275 seats."

Teichner asked, "What kinds of books do you want in schools and libraries?"

"Books that educate children," Descovich replied.

"That's a generalization," said Teichner.

Justice added, "Books that don't have pornography in them, let's start there. Let's just put the bar really, really low. Books that don't have incest, pedophilia, rape."

"Stop it!" said cartoonist Art Spiegelman. "I mean, talk about Orwellian, you know? Calling this organization Moms for Liberty, when it's actually for suppression, is about as basic as you could find in '1984,' which I think is listed as a young adult novel still, and probably has been banned in lots of places."

Spiegelman has been speaking out ever since the McMinn County, Tennessee school board voted unanimously last year to ban "Maus," his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, citing violence, profanity, and (because of the below, right image) nudity.

Spiegelman said, "I think it's possible for an adult to say, 'I don't want my kid reading that book in class.' But to forbid the other kids from reading it or taking it out of the library? That's not liberty; that's suppression and authoritarianism."

Spiegelman says: fight back. "Kick out the damn school boards," he said, "and get school boards in that are more nuanced in what they're doing; getting involved in local politics as necessary to try to protect libraries' funding and schools' needs, instead of making it such a low priority."

Linda Johnson, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library in New York, said, "This idea of what's appropriate and inappropriate is so subjective. And teenagers are smart.

"What we ended up doing was issuing a countrywide press release that said, 'If you're between the ages of 13 and 21, and you can't find the material that you want to read on the shelves of your school or your public library, send us an email, and we will send you a digital card which will give you access to our digital collection.'"

In just over a year since it launched Books Unbanned, the Brooklyn Public Library has issued more than 6,200 free digital library cards, and circulated more than 100,000 books and other items.

Summer Boismier was a 10th grade English teacher in Norman, Oklahoma, when, on the first day of school in August 2022, her students walked into her classroom and found all of the bookshelves covered over; in their place was the Books Unbanned QR code.

Boismier did that, after being told to pull books that might violate a new state law prohibiting Oklahoma schools from teaching uncomfortable aspects of "race or sex." "All it takes is one objection, for any reason," Boismier said. "A school district could lose its accreditation. A teacher could lose their ability to teach, in not only an Oklahoma classroom, but any K-12 classroom in the country."

Boismier was removed from her classroom, and accused of distributing pornography for posting the QR code. She resigned before being fired. "I am incensed," she said. "I'm livid. I'm not heartbroken. Identities are not obscenities. Stories are not pornography. They are possibility.

"I made the calculation," she said, "knowing that it could possibly cost me my job, knowing that it could possibly cost me my teaching certificate. And that is a hill that I'm willing to die on."

Now she works for the Brooklyn Public Library with teens as part of Books Unbanned.

In a war where bookshelves are battlefields, both sides want to capture the same flag.

The Brooklyn Public Library's Linda Johnson, said, "It sounds melodramatic but, you know, to do something which inhibits intellectual curiosity is like a death knell for democracy."

Moms for Liberty's Tiffany Justice said, "Our moms and dads are very concerned about the future of the country, and they're willing to step up however they need to, to fight for the survival of America."

For more info:
Story produced by Jon Carras. Editor: David Bhagat.

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War of words: The fight over banning books

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Between 2020 and 2022, book titles banned in libraries and schools (including books on race, slavery, sex and gender identity) rose more than 1,100%. "Sunday Morning" talks with advocates for removing books from shelves, and those fighting to preserve access.

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After my research, I still believe the same perils will prevail if nothing is done to aid in this issue. Rates of suicide and depression will climb along with rates of discrimination and hatred. We won't see any positive change if people's rights to freedom of speech continue to be cut back. These bans could open the door to a wider range of issues, the idea of Obergefell v. Hodges being overturned isn't far off. People everywhere could lose their right to marriage, to live freely, and to exist, with it all starting as small as restricting the books people are able to read.

In my eyes, the only possible solution is to refrain from restricting the books people are able to read. At least in public, a select minority shouldn't be able to decide for the public, especially if the decision made isn't beneficial. I believe it is up to parents on which book they would like for their children to read, but that's the full extent of it. Anyone outside of that is out of their jurisdiction, and should not be affected by their beliefs. Allowing children to access books and media that display LGBTQ+ characters will prove to be beneficial for them and our society as a whole.