The Independent By Tara Cobham, Katie Dancey-Downs
Exclusive: Library staff, MPs and charities have warned banning books is worrying regression on LGBT+ rights and can be harmful to young people.
LGBT+ books are being banned from UK schools after complaints from parents, librarians have revealed.
A six-month investigation by Index on Censorship, the results of which have been shared exclusively with The Independent, found that 53 per cent of UK school librarians polled had been asked to remove literature and in more than half of those cases books were taken off shelves.
The snapshot survey found that more than two dozen librarians had experienced such censorship, with one saying they had been told to remove every book with an LGBT+ theme after a single complaint from one parent about one book.
The responses revealed that specific titles removed from school libraries included This Book Is Gay, by Juno Dawson, a memoir about a young person discovering their sexual identity; Julián is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love, a picture book about a gender non-conforming boy who dreams of being a mermaid; and the alphabet book ABC Pride, by Louie Stowell, Elly Barnes and Amy Phelps, which introduces young readers to the alphabet while they learn more about the LGBT+ community.
LGBT+ charities, MPs and authors have warned the move represents a worrying regression on gay rights, “returning us to that world of prejudice that most of us thought we had moved on from”. Former MP Elliot Colburn, who received homophobic death threats while serving in Parliament, said preventing children from accessing material that speaks to their experiences represented a “clear and present danger to young LGBT+ people”.
Simon James Green, one of the UK’s leading writers of LGBT+ teenage fiction, had his visit to a Catholic secondary school in south London cancelled in 2022 and was subsequently trolled online, including being told he “deserved to die and burn in hell”.
“Fast forward two years and it feels to me like we’re in an even more precarious position” he told Index. “The publicity the banning brought means librarians often want to talk to me about censorship issues, and many of them have been receiving more pushback about LGBTQ+ library books than ever before.”
Librarians, many of whom requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said they worried about losing their jobs if they did not comply with book removals. Surveyed staff described defying bans by handing out “off-the-record loans” from a back cupboard, a parent trying to get them sacked because their child had been reading an LGBT+ book, and senior staff telling them to keep particular books but not put them on open display.
School library worker Amy* said: “It seems that when it comes down to it, if a parent complains, the book’s gone.” Another librarian, Emma*, said she felt frightened and intimidated after one complaint led to a purge of all LGBTQ+ content from her library…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… (independent.co.uk)
Home | Caravan to Midnight (zutalk.com)
Be First to Comment