Out of the Closet & Onto the Shelv: Librarians and the Olst Gay Profsnal Organizatn the U.S. – Amerin Library Associatn Archiv – U of I Library

Contents:

• BANNED BOOKS 2023 – THIS BOOK IS GAY
• THE GAY HISTORY OF AMERI’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS
• BANNED BOOKS 2020 – GAY AND LBIAN HISTORY FOR KIDS: THE CENTURY-LONG STGGLE FOR LGBT RIGHTS WH 21 ACTIVI
• BANNED BOOKS 2010 – THE JOY OF GAY SEX
• WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE
• QT MARSHALL PCHED ANTHONY BOWENS 'I'M GAY' LE ON AEW RAMPAGE

BANNED BOOKS 2023 – THIS BOOK IS GAY

The Elmbrook School District (Brookfield, WI) spend accs to Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker and This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson via the school’s e-book app and the school librari followg a challenge om the Wisns Instute for Law and Liberty (WILL). I’m not askg you to have a straight Pri Month, I’m jt askg you not to have a gay Pri month.

” Some rints suggted mors should not have accs to any lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer/ qutng, tersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) books. Commissner Shelstad then asked each library board member to answer whether they thought This Book is Gay was appropriate for Campbell County youth. ” Between the Augt 12th meetg and the Augt 17th meetg, 22 forms for rensiratn had been filed agast the 12 tl – This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, Trans Missn: My Qut to a Beard by Alex Bertie, The Babysters’ Coven by Kate Williams, Mic om Another World by Rob Talley, The V-Word: Te Stori About First-Time Sex by Amber Keyser, Quick & Easy Gui to Queer & Trans Inti by Mady G., Mary Wears What She Wants by Keh Negley, Meena by Ine Van Mol, My Body My Choice by Rob Stevenson, The Black Flamgo by Dean Atta, Heartstopper by Alice Oserman, and Jane Agast the World by Karen Blumenthal.

This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson was one of five LGBTQIA+ tl challenged by a parent at the North Hunterdon-Voorhe (NJ) Regnal High School District.

THE GAY HISTORY OF AMERI’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Several Wasilla rints attacked the book at a cy uncil meetg sayg that “they didn’t want ‘gay books’ or books about gay people the library at all. The Elmbrook School District (Brookfield, WI) spend accs to Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker & Jul Scheele and This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson via the school’s e-book app and the school librari followg a challenge om the Wisns Instute for Law and Liberty (WILL).

” It’s about a t who liv wh two gay men; you n tell by the book, then jt published, was evintly meant to help normalize already borgly normal fai like ours by g the tradnal substutn of animals for people orr to illtrate how much fun havg gay dads n be. ) And if you stopped to thk about , “Lucy” seemed to argue that the gay dads, however full of fun, were aquate: When the pa chips were down, they need rcug, too.

Among gay-themed children’s stori, they preferred “Frog and Toad.

BANNED BOOKS 2020 – GAY AND LBIAN HISTORY FOR KIDS: THE CENTURY-LONG STGGLE FOR LGBT RIGHTS WH 21 ACTIVI

” No, I know: “Frog and Toad” — a seri of four picture books by Arnold Lobel, origally published between 1970 and 1979 — is not gay-themed.

But ’s not not gay-themed eher. They get to scrap separately but get out of them together, which is not a bad fn of left: Jam Marshall, “Gee and Martha, ” urty of Houghton Miffl Harurt; Arnold Lobel, “Frog and Toad are Friends” © 1970 Arnold Lobel, ed by permissn of HarperColls Publishers; Jam Marshall, “Miss Nelson is Missg!, ” urty of Houghton Miffl HarurtOur boys loved the stori, as did we — but not bee Lobel was gay. They ntued to make books together for years: a Frog and Toad tale if ever there was, Lobel’s gayns, when I learned of much later, seemed like somethg I should have known all along; lurked everywhere his words and pictur.

Which is not to say Frog and Toad uld turn you gay. They suggted, no ls to as gay parents than to our sons wh their polar personali, how separatens uld bee solidary and oddns acmodatn.

BANNED BOOKS 2010 – THE JOY OF GAY SEX

However d the books’ gay ntent, was no surprise once d.

It’s also that all of their thors were gay. As if that weren’t enough, he referred to the gay muny, who took him as one of their own whether he liked or not, as “l boys.

Sss and Shel Silverste were prumably heterosexual, no matter that Silverste glowered om the photos on his book jackets like a hot Scff by permissn of HarperColls, urty of Children’s Lerature Collectn, UMNBut remas the se that the thors of many of the most succsful and fluential works of children’s lerature the middle years of the last century — works that were formative for baby boomers, Gen-Xers, lennials and beyond — were gay.

WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

At a time when those wrers wouldn’t dare (as Paola recently told me) walk hand hand wh a lover, when only a straight children’s thor like Silverste uld get away wh publishg a story Playboy about life the homophile En that is Fire Island P, they won Caltt and Newbery Medals for books that, whout ever directly speakg their tth, sent out a secret language that was somehow accsible to those who need to receive . The works forted the proto-gay but also tenrized the proto-straight a way no other lerature ABOUT WHAT was happeng unr the ver of children’s lerature.

QT MARSHALL PCHED ANTHONY BOWENS 'I'M GAY' LE ON AEW RAMPAGE

The msage: Leave me alone wh my imagatn and I’ll be mt have lighted Sendak to know that, spe the ocsnal censorship kerfuffle, an Ameri terrified of gay fluence on children was vourg his ovre as fast as he uld whip up. ) While the Save Our Children csar Ana Bryant and the Foc on the Fay attack dog Jam Dobson were huntg down homosexual propaganda schools and stateho, Sendak and the others were hidg the one place no one bothered to look: on their children’s night this wasn’t a liberate strategy of subversn, wasn’t a cince eher. Photos by Joshua Stt; Tomie Paola, “Oliver Button is a Sissy, ” urty of Houghton Miffl Harurt But wrg om a gay perspective for the unr-12 set was tricky.