They Ban Books. They Want to Ban Us.

In our country, which has communities of religious and political zealots that sexualize queer people for simply existing, their definition of “the study of sex” must be evaluated beyond their faux portrayal of moral puritanism and dissected for what their main goal is in banning books that exist in these terms: homophobia and transphobia. These zealots often sexualize queer people and our existence is considered sexual to them. While they gush over their children having their first “boyfriend” or girlfriend” in a joking manner or establish the expected parameters for how their kids will live the rest of their lives (eventually they will be expected to get married, cis women and people with uteruses will be expected to have children and exist in the nuclear family without any other choice), they will be disgusted by any young person who is gay, queer, or trans. We should not be fooled by this purposeful action to punish anyone who is queer and wants to learn more about their own sexuality or gender. As someone who has known that I am queer since I was a child, I was repressed by the expectations and parameters of Catholicism and the homophobia that forced me into the closet for many years.

These religious zealots push their obsession with “moral” purity onto young gay, queer, and trans people who are left thinking that there is something wrong with them. They offer no sexual education for those who do have sex, whether it is their choice or if they are assaulted (a common occurrence in our society that celebrates rape and abuse culture), leading to children being abused and, in some cases, criminalized.

While these book bans are often presented as a way to protect children, they are often used to abuse them and prioritize learning that erases the deep issue of white supremacy in this country. The McMinn County school board can pretend that their decision came from a place of care, but if they had any real concern, they would acknowledge the seriousness of banning a book about the Holocaust and how this action aids in promoting the denial of a genocide that was directly enforced by white supremacist ideology.

We cannot pretend that these incidents are not taking place. These are not isolated attacks. There is a growing movement toward fascism in the United States and it is being aided by the decisions that state and federal governments are making. The McMinn County school board is only asissting in erasing education on the Holocaust in their local community. White supremacists will use the lack of education within their communities to recruit individuals and continue their violence.

If they feel that the books are unsuitable for minors to read, why would they not distribute the books elsewhere or donate them to organizations for adult readers? Are they concerned about the books being unsuitable children or are they uncomfortable with the gay sex scenes and do not want the books donated so that no one can read them? If the books are donated elsewhere, they could be available to adult audiences who do not have the privilege of buying the books themselves. I wonder if these critics are also concerned with other adults reading these books because they do not want their cisheternormative society to be corrupted by the queer people who they reject.

Those who choose not to address it or choose to shield their children from learning about the issue of racism within the United States are preventing their kids from understanding a societal problem that leads to racist hate and violence within our communities. There is an ongoing threat against Black individuals who are regularly targeted, harassed, and murdered by police in this country.

These are purposeful measures that are meant erase the experience of gay, queer, and trans students. These puritiantical individuals sexualize queer people and only ackowledge our existence as sexual beings who are not pure. To them, we cannot be discussed in proper school settings because any discussion of us will automatically be considered sexual or sexualized. They see us as objects and fetishes. It is blatant homophobia and transphobia. It doesn’t matter to them that queer people would like to grow families, live in the comfort of people who are similar to them, and exist as straight and cis people are allowed to exist without interruption. Our identities are not first and foremost sexual. We are human beings and our experiences do not need to be banned from classrooms because other people choose to sexualize and fetishize us.

These book bans are stirring a public distaste for our existence, which threatens our safety. They are aiding in censoring information about the history of war, genocide, and white supremacy. They are assisting in an ongoing movement to hide the real stories of people who have been most affected by violence, which will only aid the misinformation and conspiracy campaigns that are actively being built by radicalized white supremacists. Individuals in favor of these book bans would like to use their excuses to “protect” children while they cast queer, gay, and trans individuals in a predatory light. They want to erase the experience of non-white individuals who have been harmed by white supremacist ideology. They are not protecting children but they are actively making it less safe for anyone who does not fit into the white, cis heteronormative mold that their puritianical structure demands. Anyone who does not fit into the structure that they define as suitable are outcast, forgotten, erased, banned.

The ideology of banning or erasing individuals who are non-white, disabled, queer, trans, etc., is a fascist ideology. We should not be encouraging this dangerous behavior in public schools.

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