Alabama Flags Children’s Book Over Author’s Last Name

A children’s book was flagged for censorship because the author’s surname is Gay—literally. The book, which is called Read Me a Story Stella by Marie-Louise Gay was flagged and placed under review at the Harris County Public library due to its “sexual nature.”

Even though the book does not contain any sexual content, the book was placed under review because the word “gay” triggered a keyword in the libraries system, stated Cindy Hewitt, the executive director of the library.

Like Gay’s book, it is just one of hundreds of books that are under review because their titles mention words that are categorized as “sexually explicit.” In the state of Alabama alone, the words sexuality, gender, sex, and dating are considered “sexually explicit.” This comes as another attack to our community, as many states have pushed the propaganda of relating the LGBTQ+ community being “predatory” and “endangering” children just because of our identities.

Hewitt, however, insisted that her library will “never remove a book” and says that processes like these should send a message to children that some things are “not worthy of consideration.”

The GOP is mostly to blame for this, as they have passed several laws in their states, demanding to remove books that mention LGBTQ+ issues and have decided to label them as “pornographic” and “sexual material.” In the state of Missouri, libraries have been threatened of being “defunded” as a retaliation tactic after ACLU filled a lawsuit for enacting the ban of educators teaching “sexually explicit materials.”

Apart from the LGBTQ+ community, many educators are also being affected by these book bans because they are stripped from teaching certain material, even though it may be vital in students learning.

Such propaganda has made the lives of the LGBTQ+ community very difficult. So much of this is because the conservatives of this country see this tactic as something that gives them traction to win elections. Books is just one of many areas where our community has been attacked.