Happy Pride Month! Celebrating Pride feels more important than ever, as we’ve seen a significant rise in cultural and political attacks on queer and particularly trans people over the past year. Those attacks have included a surge in attempts to ban books with LGBTQ+ content in schools - in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, PEN America found “1,477 instances of individual books banned, affecting 874 unique titles, an increase of 28 percent compared to the prior six months.” More than a quarter of those books were banned due to containing “LGBTQ+ characters or themes.” (It’s important to note that book bans are also targeting people of color – 30% of books banned are “about race, racism, or feature characters of color.”)*
Personally, as a queer and trans person, it’s been incredibly validating to see an increase in the creation and spread of queer and trans content for people of all ages since I came out a decade ago; I often wonder if I would have been able to come out to myself sooner and felt less alone if I had access to the wide variety of LGBTQ+ books that are now available. The thought of book bans taking away that access and making kids feel afraid to be who they are is infuriating, and it has galvanized me to continue to consume as much queer and trans content as I can get my hands on. As soon as I finish This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (an LGBTQ+ book not currently banned), I look forward to jumping into King and the Dragonflies, a banned book by Kacen Callender.
You can see the full list of banned books here, but if you want to browse a smaller selection in person, check out 30+ banned books by LGBTQ+ authors on display on the 2nd floor of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library throughout the month of June! Not on campus, or want to read online? The titles below are available both in person and on OverDrive or EBSCO.
- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. “It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.”
- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. “Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.”
- Drama by Raina Telgemeier. “While navigating seventh grade, Callie deals with tween hardship, including confusing crushes, budding friendships, and middle school drama. It is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of friendship, teamwork, inclusion, and determination through Callie and her relationship with the people around her.”
- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. “Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out.”
- The Bluest Eye [AUDIO] by Toni Morrison. “The story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove—a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others—who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different.”
- Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. “The story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera.”
- Flamer by Mike Curato. “Everyone's going through changes―but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.”
- This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson. “There's a long-running joke that, after "coming out," a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. THIS IS THAT INSTRUCTION MANUAL.”
- More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. “Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends.”
- No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves by Lee Wind. A “fascinating journey through primary sources―poetry, memoir, news clippings, and images of ancient artwork―to explore the hidden (and often surprising) Queer lives and loves of two dozen historical figures.”
In addition, check out these banned books that are currently available only online:
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker. “A powerful novel of courage in the face of oppression Celie has grown up in rural Georgia, navigating a childhood of ceaseless abuse.”
- All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto [AUDIO] by George M. Johnson. “In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.”
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. “Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.”
- We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. “An "equal parts sarcastic and profound" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.”
- Weird Girl and What's His Name: A Novel by Meagan Brothers. “Lula begins to question her identity and her own sexual orientation, and she runs away in the middle of the night on a journey to find her mother, who she hopes will have all the answers.”
*All data pulled from:
Meehan, K. & Friedman, J. (2023, April 20). Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools. PEN America. https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/