The Carrier editorial reflects a consensus of the editorial board.
Sex, profanity and diversity: these are three of the most common reasons for banning books, according to TIME magazine. Banned Books Week promotes the freedom to read and brings books that have been challenged during the year into the spotlight. Since 1982, schools, public libraries and bookstores have challenged more than 11,000 books, according to the American Library Association. This annual commemoration aims to explore the effects of censorship while encouraging people to read banned books and exercise their First Amendment rights. This year, the emphasis is on diversity, a nod to the fact that more than half of the books challenged or banned in American libraries and schools include LGBT topics or are written by people of color. These books shouldn’t be censored because they are diverse.
“The argument (is) that literature that includes sexually explicit scenes, LGBTQ+ characters and language that is deemed offensive is inappropriate for the age of the intended audience,” Arizona State professor James Blasingame said in an ASU Now article, “This stance largely underestimates or ignores that many young people identify as LGBTQ, are sexually active and often curse in their daily lives, and that literature simply reflects these realities.”
When a book is banned, someone is hurt because it insinuates that they are wrong for connecting to a book labeled “bad.” LGBT literature has been absent from school and public libraries and school curriculum until fairly recently. The ALA’s list of the 10 most challenged books in 2015 includes “I Am Jazz” and “Beyond Magenta,” which were banned because people said they contained inaccuracies, homosexuality, sex education and religious viewpoints; “Fun Home” and “Two Boys Kissing,” which contained homosexuality and “condoned public displays of affection,” “Habibi” and “Nasreen’s Secret School,” which featured Muslim characters and religious viewpoints that people said were unsuited for young adult age groups.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed American Library Association project manager Olusina Adebayo, who explained why books with minority themes are so frequently challenged.
“Because the definition of diversity stems from what is considered to be outside the norm, it has frightened parents who want to protect their children from overexposure,” Adebayo writes. “The banning and censorship of books stifles constructive dialogue and promotes division over understanding. Unfortunately, our society has characterized that which is different as being bad or off-putting.”
It is important for people to be able to read books and formulate their own ideas. When you are growing up, you need to have access to different ideas and viewpoints, you need to be exposed to things that you might not agree with and to things that will educate you. More importantly, entire communities are being censored for being “different” from our societal norm. Books like “Two Boys Kissing” and “Beyond Magenta” are going to receive the recognition they deserve because of Banned Book Week, and the students reading them will be able to see that they are not anomalies. It’s time to stop homogenizing our society and embrace diversity in our books and in all aspects of our world.