Why These Books Were Banned

Banned Books Week 2022

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Banned Books Week 2022 <3

Written By: Olivia Kirchhoff (Senior Barista)

If you are interested in reading or buying any of these banned books (which you totally should), check our Bookshop Page, which has a master list of these titles and many other banned books from across the country!

Rainbow Revolutions: Power, Pride, and Protest in the Fight for Queer Rights by Jamie Lawson and Eve Lloyd Knight 

Rainbow Revolutions is a crucial read that brings LGBTQIA+ history into the public light. From the devastating raid at the Stonewall Inn to the birth of queer pop culture, this book refuses to keep queer history swept under the rug. According to the Banned Bookshelf, “This book is one of the 850+ books political action committees have listed as “obscene” that they are attempting to ban, as we speak, in the year 2022.” 

This, in my opinion, is another futile attempt at keeping the queer community oppressed through the invalidation of queer history. How can a communities history be labeled as “obscene”? Obscene, by definition, means offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency. It is flabbergasting to me that a book that promotes the spread of compassion and love within the queer community, despite the unfathomable crimes committed against it, could be considered obscene. Especially when we were taught about the slaughter and mistreatment of underrepresented communities in school. We ingrain decades of hate and prejudices into our youth and then are shocked when hate crimes continue to plague our society.

GenderQueer: A Memoir By Maia Kobabe

GenderQueer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe is a graphic novel about Mai Kobabe’s coming of age and eir journey of self-identity. This piece fearlessly addresses the struggles and confusing feelings most queer youth encounter when navigating sexuality in a heteronormative society. It offers comfort to those struggling with their sexual identity by showing that these thoughts and feelings are normal and not something to be ashamed of. 

Due to the honest nature of the book, GenderQueer quickly began to gain traction within the queer community. Although the rising attention allowed for a vaster exposure, it also put the novel’s “controversial” content into the limelight. Republicans in North and South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia protested the book and labeled its content as “pornographic” and “likely illegal.” Resulting in dozens of schools and libraries pulling the book off their shelves.

GenderQueer is now one of the most banned books in the United States. With scenes depicting topics such as masturbation, experimentation with sex toys, and the fantisization of two men engaging in sex, republican representatives and organizations such as Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit formed in 2021 to fight for “parental rights in schools,” will stop at nothing to see this book blacklisted. 

This, in my opinion, creates two issues; one, with the book banned in numerous schools and libraries, it is extremely difficult for young queer individuals struggling with the same issues to access the book. Two, it again undermines the idea that these feelings and thoughts are wrong and something to be ashamed of. By calling this book obscene and offensive, you inadvertently call the LGBTQIA+ community the same. As someone who has read GenderQueer, it is puzzling to me how these organizations are horrified by a book that mildly illudes to consensual sex yet requires teenagers to read books like Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, which includes strong depictions of abuse, sexual assault, violence, and racism. Through this abhorrent lack of judgment, we continue to villainize the oppressed and glorify the oppressors. In my opinion, GenderQueer is a revolutionary masterpiece that demands to be read, and it’s no shock how quickly it has become a staple in queer literature.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a science fiction novel in a divided dystopian society. The story is set in a post-secondary civil war in America, torn in two by the issue of reproductive rights. The resolution reached is allowing parents the choice to unwind their children once they reach the age of thirteen. Unwinding is the disturbing process of dissecting all of a child’s organs and dispersing them to different donors, so life doesn't technically end. The book follows three teenagers, Connor, Risa, and Lev, who have all been condemned to unwinding and their fight to survive. As terrifying as this novel's premise is, the thought that it isn't that far off from present-day America is even more alarming. As the fight on abortion continues, Neal Schuster provokes the idea that the preciousness of human life is conditional on someone else's ideologies. 

Eventually, Unwind was banned due to foul language and the coverage of topics such as sex, child abuse, drug abuse, and suicide. But, with numerous books, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, All the Bright Places, and We are Okay that stock the shelves, one has to wonder, was there a hidden agenda for banning the book? Although the political climate surrounding abortion is tenser in 2022, abortion was still prevalent in 2007, the publication date, and 2009; the year Unwind was challenged. In this novel, we see the horrifying, albeit hyperbolized, effects of a pro-life world. One where the abortion of a nonconscious fetus is villanized, but the murder of a 13-year-old child is celebrated simply because they were a “troublemaker.”