Book Banning

Top 2 Topics

Being Banned

LGBTQ+

CONTENT ----------------------------

Books featuring

LGBTQ+ main characters are one of the top categories to be banned because many people think the concept is inappropriate for kids.

Stories Featuring Black Leads ---------------------------Stories centering around Black characters are often banned due to the harsh realities showcased in the books. The realites of being Black in America are often considered too much for kids to handle.

Graphic by Kindell Readus

As more books become banned the reasons start to become clear

Imagine books featuring characters that you can relate to being plucked from the shelves and/or curriculum, just because the book’s content – content that mimics your own life – has been deemed taboo and controversial in a classroom setting. This has been occurring all over the United States, conversations are being had over whether books featuring Black, and LGBTQ+ characters are appropriate for young viewers. “These stories are being banned the most because they are the most ‘controversial’ even though they shouldn’t be,” sophomore Hollis Kolb said. “Since Fishers has such a high white, straight, cis population parents and kids are more likely to complain about stories that are about people who are different than them.” Despite the complaints from people not included in the representation provided in these stories, the content of stories like these is important to many readers. “Reading is a very important part of growing up and even life,” Kolb said. “It teaches us life lessons that can't be taught otherwise and it helps us grow our imagination. The most important part, however, especially for LGBTQ+ people and people of color, is seeing people like us in stories.” Books and other media containing stories featuring Black or LGBTQ+ characters being banned creates stigma around these two groups, making the people represented in them, as well as the authors behind the titles, seem inappropriate and ill-intentioned. “Stories that highlight the discrimination of queer and Black people not only spread awareness of the issue, but also comfort some that they are not alone,” sophomore Kamare O’Connell said. To have books featuring Black and LGBTQ+ characters taken off of shelves for being controversial can be damaging for the people who find themselves within these stories. These books cause those represented within them to feel as though their life makes others uncomfortable. “Schools and administrators ban and or strictly hide these stories because Black literature is seen as ‘converting’ their kids,” sophomore Jason Love said. “Especially stories with LGBTQ+ themes, they are afraid we’re going to call them out and their kids will form an opinion different than theirs, so they remove the opinion.” During a Hamilton Southeastern school board meeting on Jan. 19, 2021, parents and community members spoke about their distaste for “age inappropriate” reading material. They said that the board,and the new appointee they are bringing in, should “focus on filling the library with age-appropriate material that aligns with values taught at home.” These comments were met with applause and further support from other attendees. Another community member said a book that was causing her quite the concern was “When Aidan Became a Brother,” an award-winning children’s picture book featuring a Black transgender boy. The community members' concerns caused this book and others like it to be called into question regarding what qualifies as “kid-friendly” content. O’Connell believes that this takes away a potential resource for

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young kids who find themselves in need of a story like this. “White, heterosexual fragility shoudn’t be stopping our youth from getting a proper and necessary education,” O’Connell said. Kyle Lukoff, author of “When Aidan Became a Brother,” said that while speaking with his own students, they all showed a curiosity towards the subject of this book and his life when it came to the aspects that they were unfamiliar with. He took this opportunity to “politely” educate the students in a way that was kid friendly and that he felt made sense to the young audience. “I'm always delighted by the questions kids come up with,” Lukoff said in an interview with The Horn Book Inc. “I once had a kid ask what my name used to be, and I love that question because it gives me an excuse to kindly and sympathetically explain that it's okay to be curious, but I don't like sharing that information: ‘I changed my name because I didn't like it! And it makes sense that I don't want to share something that I don't like, right?’" Kolb believes that the type of reassurance that these types of books bring is beneficial to high school students, but also to the younger generations as well. “It is so important that people of color and LGBTQ+ people can go into libraries or into their school and find stories about people who are like them,” Kolb said. “That is so important for being happy and having good mental health, especially for children, we know that we aren’t alone and other people share our experiences, we know people like us can be happy and live amazing lives and have amazing stories to tell.”