Most of them are LGBTQ+.
This year, Sept. 22-28 is Banned Books Week, which raises awareness of the harms of censorship and restricting books. Though the campaign was started in 1982, it’s disturbingly relevant today, with freedom of expression under attack in schools, libraries, and bookstores across the country. Earlier this year, the nonprofit American Library Association released its list of the ten most challenged books of 2023 — and seven of them have LGBTQIA+ themes or characters.
Maia Kobabe’s memoir Gender Queer, which follows the author’s journey coming out as nonbinary, topped the organization’s list for the third year in a row. This book, which is technically geared toward older teens and adults, is often referenced by conservative groups and Republican lawmakers like Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy as a prime example of what isn’t appropriate for kids and should be removed from schools.
The next four books on the list also have queer motifs: George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, Juno Dawson’s This Book Is Gay, Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Mike Curato’s Flamer. ALA provides the specific reasons each book on the list is challenged. The top five books are contested for the same reasons: “LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.” Literary classic The Bluest Eye by late Black novelist Toni Morrison drew complaints because it depicts rape and incest, according to the library association.
In total, the data showed that about 47 percent of the titles targeted were either by or about these two groups. “In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” ALA president Emily Drabinski wrote in a statement.
Book challenges soared in 2023
According to the ALA report, the number of book challenges across the U.S. jumped 65 percent over the past year, reaching the highest level ever documented by the group, which began tracking such data in 2001. More than 4,200 individual titles in schools and public libraries were targeted to be restricted or removed last year, which is up from the previous all-time high of 2,571 in 2022.
This surge in book challenges was largely driven by “organized pressure groups” that demanded the removal of multiple books — and at least 17 states, including Connecticut and Wisconsin, saw more than 100 book censorship attempts.
“Each challenge, each demand to censor these books is an attack on our freedom to read, our right to live the life we choose, and an attack on libraries as community institutions that reflect the rich diversity of our nation,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “When we tolerate censorship, we risk losing all of this. During National Library Week, we should all take action to protect and preserve libraries and our rights.”
Correlation between banned books and attacks on LGBTQ+ communities
This unprecedented spike in challenged books comes amid increasing attacks against the LGBTQ+ community in recent years. Anti-LGBTQ hate crimes rose sharply in 2022, jumping more than 19 percent over 2021, according to the FBI’s annual crime report released last year.
Unfortunately, kids are no exception — the number of anti-LGBTQ+ school hate crimes reported to local police more than doubled nationwide between 2015-2019 and 2021-2022, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.
In response, crisis support lines, such as the Rainbow Youth Project, saw calls increase from an average of about 1,000 per month in 2022 to over 1,400 per month last year.
Of course, kids can turn to books for support — or can they?
Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023
- Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
- This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, rape, drugs, profanity
- Flamer by Mike Curato
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content
7/8. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins (tie)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content
7/8. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (tie)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
9. Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQIA+ content
10. Sold by Patricia McCormick
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, rape
