US librarians tackle 'manufactured crisis' of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights

[ShazzieB]

I knew it was bad but it's even worse than I realized.

For decades, libraries served as a safe haven for many queer and marginalized youths in eastern Texas, says former county library director Rhea Young. Unlike the school cafeteria, the library was a space where they could explore and find acceptance in who they wanted to be.

“There were books where they can find characters like them, and realize it’s okay to be who they are,” Young said. "There needs to be more places like that, not fewer."

*snip*

Books exploring race, sexual health and gender identity have faced an unprecedented level of challenges in recent years, as Republican-led states sought to codify censorship into law. Award-winning books such as Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me have all been caught in the crosshairs.

In public schools, the majority of banned books last year featured people of color, LGBTQ+ people and other demographics, according to a PEN America report. In Greenville county, South Carolina, a group of library patrons sued in March to block book restriction policies that purged at least 59 titles by or about LGBTQ+ people. The case is still pending in federal court.

Halpern said the surge in book bans is a “manufactured crisis” fueled by national conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty and the National Federation of Republican Women. Local chapters of both organizations have challenged dozens of books in public and school libraries.

“These organizations have fine-tuned the blueprint for ways to attack LGBTQ+ rights, to attack information on racial history, slavery and discrimination, all while outside funding local elections,” Halpern said.

More here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/15/us-librarianbook-bans-lgbtq-rights

I was gobsmacked when I read that whackos in Huntington Beach, CA tried to ban Once Upon a Potty due to so-called “sexual content." For anyone not familiar with it, it's a picture book for toddlers about using the potty that has been around for decades. My. husband and I read it to our now 40 year old daughter when we were potty training her. Evidently going to the bathroom is now a sexual act, according to some people! 😱

[J_William_Ryan]

1. This is typical of the authoritarian right.

Conservatives fear diversity, inclusion, and expressions of individual liberty.

And like authoritarians throughout the ages, conservatives seek to punish dissent and compel conformity.

It is in fact a manufactured crisis, a non-issue contrived by conservatives, the consequence of the right’s racism, bigotry, and hate.