Unfurling The Book Banner Lies: Book Censorship News, June 2, 2023
This week, book banners showed up to the Douglas County Public Library board meeting in Colorado to protest books in the system’s collection. It is not the first time they’ve done it, and it’s also not the first time counter protestors have shown up to push back. None of this is news nor is it all that interesting; at this point, it’s pretty standard, even if there are still folks choosing to ignore this is happening in their own back yards at their public library.
What is more interesting than that, though, is looking at how these crisis actors are presenting their message and courting people to their cause. Propaganda works when an uninformed public — usually folks who aren’t engaged in the inaccurately named “culture wars” online — sees it and is appalled by what is presented. Good propaganda works because it’s convincing and presented in such a way as to appear authoritative. But y’all, this isn’t even close to good, and the book banning bigots do not even care. By presenting their false narratives in the most outrageous manner, they’re able to stoke anger and fear in new ways…and it is working.
But let’s break down what is truth here and what is spin (spoiler alert: it’s all spin). The purpose of sharing this is twofold: first, exposure matters since too many folks who care about the First Amendment Rights of all and the freedom of access are putting their heads in the sand and not looking at this stuff and second, this will help in your own talking points with friends, family, board meeting members and attendees, educators, and legislators, debunking fact from fiction.
Because sorry, that’s your job, too. You can’t not look and pretend it is not happening.
To see the full image, you’ll need to click through to the second tweet in this thread:
The background of the poster is our first sign this is going to be about fear mongering: it’s the Pride flag. Even better, it’s almost the entirely inclusive Pride flag; it’s missing the intersex inclusive element, introduced in 2021.
Layered immediately on top of the flag is the problem identified by the book banners. It reads “Child’s Porn @ Douglas County Library.” There is no such thing as “child’s porn.” Pornography is created and distributed for those 18 and older. Anything that would be called pornography and attempt to be distributed to anyone under the age of 18 would be deemed obscene and would never 1. make it through the publishing ecosystem, 2. let alone be printed, 3. or be distributed in any capacity. For a public library to retain funding and their status as government organization, no pornography would be collected, cataloged, and distributed, period, let alone “child’s pornography,” which does not exist.
More simply, “Child’s Pornography” would not be covered by the First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech.
Beside the misleading, factually incorrect concern on the poster is a phrase that might be easy to miss. It reads “The weak and confused are easy to control.” Who are the weak and confused? The poster does not explain who that might include, but if we want to make the leap and assume it’s minors, then that is also factually incorrect. Let’s come at this in two ways: by experience and by science.
Anyone who has ever worked with young people knows that they will not do something they are not ready for. This includes reading. If a kid does not want to read a book, whether assigned in the classroom or sitting on a public library shelf, they simply won’t. Kids are excellent self-censors. If they’re not ready for the book or they’re not engaged with it, they’ll just stop reading.
I know. I cite a librarian there, and the rest of the stories in that New York Times carousel include authors and other so-called “indoctrinators.” So let’s move to the science part of the argument.
Kids are not “weak and confused.” Indeed, children are resilient humans. This is because their minds are still developing and with the support of caring adults in their life, they can overcome hardships and strengthen the neurological muscles that help them thrive. But the key here is needing a stable adult in their lives who believes in their capacity to do this; calling children “weak and confused” may not be the best indicators of what these adults believe of children.
If your frame of mind is that children are weak and confused, it won’t matter what they are or are not “exposed” to. Your belief in who they are absolutely undermines any potential they have for developing resiliency, self-awareness, self-esteem, and every other positive quality that are waiting to be shined and honed.
As a parent, your literal job is to set the limits and boundaries of what your “weak and confused” are and are not allowed to do. If you can’t make a trip to the library with them one where they do not peek at books you don’t like or you are unable to keep them from attending an event at the library where there might be a drag queen storytime, sounds like you’re not upholding your end of the “parental rights” bargain here. Maybe you just need to do your parenting work a little better.
And if your signaling here is in reference to Jesus being a shepherd for the “weak and confused,” per the Bible, if you’re putting yourself in the role of Jesus, seems like you know what you need to do already. Jesus put queer people on Earth too, and he gave them the capacity to make art. Wild, eh?
Moving down is the first — only? — truth on this flier is the time, date, and location of the Douglas County Public Library Board Meeting. People are being encouraged to attend to “stop propagandizing our children.” What exactly is the library propagandizing to children? The non-existent “child’s porn?”
Or do you mean the list of books helpfully listed along the left side of the poster? The ones which each have a title and an age rating? Don’t those age ratings do precisely what you expect them to do and “rate” the content of the books for appropriateness? So where’s the propagandizing?
Is it the set of images from Gender Queer? Two pages from a 250 page graphic memoir, pulled out of context and made to look far more salacious than they are within the comic? Because this is a dream sequence between two consenting adults, not “propaganda.” You’d know that if you read it, but we already know that hasn’t happened.
Over half of U.S. teenagers have sex before the age of 18. Pictured on the right is This Book Is Gay, recommended for ages 14 and up; included are images of physical body parts. Imagine a teenager preparing to have their first sexual experience and knowing anatomical terms for themselves and their partners! Imagine them being informed of how to keep themselves safe!
Of course, it is two pages in a 320 page book. But context doesn’t matter, does it?
Speaking of context: the quote on the left is an excellent example. This is a song from the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. Notice the ample use of “…” to omit what the poster maker doesn’t want you to know! But it is worth noting this is a real song, sung by this very real choice.
And it’s complete satire.
After the song’s YouTube debut in 2021, the Choir received numerous death threats from across the country, and the song became a right-wing talking point for weeks, prompting their think tanks to declare the implicit message despite claiming they understand it to be satire or tongue in cheek.
Nothing more really needs to be said here, other than the poster makers did a bang up job conflating a satirical song from a gay choir with books that have age ratings on them with “child’s pornography” and “propagandizing children” at the public library.
As for the images? The individual beside the lyrics is a member of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, while the drag queens in the back are just that: drag queens. One of them came from Adobe Stock!
All of this is to say that literacy is a real issue across the country, and the book crisis actors are taking deep advantage of it to push their christofascism upon as many as possible. Books like those listed on the side of the poster, as well as comics like those included on the poster, are incredible tools to help fight misinformation and this deep issue of illiteracy.
Douglas County has never held a drag queen story time. But what it has held are meetings featuring a lot of white people showing up and screaming at board meetings in 2023.
But even if the library had held Drag Queen story time, I feel a hell of a lot safer letting my “weak and confused” child spending an afternoon with the drag queens than I do with the angry cis white people. The drag queens bring books. Who knows what the white people are packing, but it looks far more dangerous.
Book Censorship News: June 2, 2023
This is the shortest book censorship news roundup in over a year. Thank you, Memorial Day.
In Missouri, in order to get state funding, libraries now need to have an obscene materials policy. This is the door opening to nonstop book bans. And the ban on books related to gender identity and sexuality passed in Iowa, which will lead to not just removal of books left and right but, and this cannot be emphasized enough since this is the reason behind every attempt to remove books, it will lead to the persecution and death of anyone not allocishet in the state. Montana has officially banned anyone in drag from reading to children. Government so small they tell you what you can wear to read to young people. Texas banned the rights of students to be in direct communication with their political representatives. Yes, read that one again. The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur was banned by the Hernando County School Board (FL), among the other nonsense that happened at the district’s EIGHT HOUR meeting this week.Copyright
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