Book bans are not about protecting children, but about silencing LGBT voices and controlling what is allowed to be taught to children.
Authorities in Iowa are pushing for a broad crackdown on what books are allowed to be kept in school libraries. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds is backing a bill that would require every school district in the state to remove a book if it’s challenged in any one district. Like other states, the bill is packaged as if it is about making sure parents can protect their students from ‘explicit’ content in schools, but nothing in the bill defines or limits what that can mean. It does require that all books available to students be listed for public review, and that each school district provide a mechanism for parents to request a book’s removal.
The Iowa legislation comes amid efforts there to keep a closer eye on public school curriculums and make taxpayer money available to parents for private school tuition. Reynolds, the governor, has made such proposals the core of her legislative agenda, telling a conservative parents group that their work was essential to guarding against “indoctrination” by public school educators.
In Florida, new laws require individual approval for any book in a classroom library, approval from a governor-appointed agency, and any book approved must be publicly listed so it can be publicly challenged.
In Louisiana, Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry launched a statewide tip line for the public to complain about librarians, teachers, and school or library personnel making “age-inappropriate” books available to children. Of the nine books his office admits to banning so far for being “sexually explicit,” seven have LGBTQ story-lines and none are explicit beyond describing attraction and kissing.
It’s not a coincidence that these book bans are coming alongside laws to keep trans children out of sports and to make sure teachers can’t either educate their students about sexuality or address their private concerns about it. This is a push to make sure that no one tells children it’s okay to be gay or transgender.
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