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Banning Books Because of Homophobia
We need to do better.
My city is embroiled in a fierce debate right now about banning books from the libraries in the high schools. It’s a bit ridiculous.
There have been rallies, for and against banning the books, and disruptive school board meetings over the whole thing.
The books in question?
- Push by Sapphire
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
- Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
- Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
The premise behind the banning idea is graphic sexual content in the books, which I’m not debating. These books do contain sexual content, and I get that there are parents who would be uncomfortable with their kids reading books with sex. But there is a group of people who want to ban them for all high school students.
Push and The Lovely Bones do have disturbing content, including the subject of rape, but the sexual content is intrinsic to the stories. I haven’t read Eleanor and Park, but understand that the step-father is a pretty disgusting person. I understand that, unfortunately, from personal experience. Real-world situations can be…
