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Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBTQ studies is the study of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoric, asexual, aromantic, queer, questioning, and intersex people and cultures.
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
Proposed bans of LGBTQ-themed books in the United States.
King & King is a children's picture book co-authored and co-illustrated by Stern Nijland and Linda De Haan. King & King tells the story of a young prince whose mother is forcing him to find his princess. However, after meeting many princesses, the prince falls in love with another prince. King & King was originally written in Frisian and has since been published in ten languages. The book's illustrations have received both positive and negative reviews, as has the storyline. The book has been analyzed for both its usefulness in the classroom and its challenges to social norms.
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. Held in late September or early October since 1982, the United States campaign "stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them" and the requirement to keep material publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions. The international campaign notes individuals "persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read." Some of the events that occur during Banned Book Week are The Virtual Read-Out and The First Amendment Film Festival.
Homosexuality in the Palestinian territories is considered a taboo subject; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people experience persecution and violence. There is a significant legal divide between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with the former having more progressive laws and the latter having more conservative laws. Shortly after the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank in 1950, same-sex acts were decriminalized across the territory with the adoption of the Jordanian Penal Code of 1951. In the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip and under Hamas' rule, however, no such initiative was implemented.
Book censorship is the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational material on the grounds that it is objectionable according to the standards applied by the censor. The first instance of book censorship in what is now known as the United States, took place in 1637 in modern-day Quincy, Massachusetts. While specific titles caused bouts of book censorship, with Uncle Tom’s Cabin frequently cited as the first book subject to a national ban, censorship of reading materials and their distribution remained sporadic in the United States until the Comstock Laws in 1873. It was in the early 20th century that book censorship became a more common practice and source of public debate. Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries there have been waves of attempts at widespread book censorship in the US. Since 2022, the country has seen a dramatic increase of attempted and successful censorship, with a 63% rise in reported cases between 2022 and 2023, including a substantial rise in challenges filed to hundreds of books at a time. In recent years, about three-fourths of books subject to censorship in the US are for children, pre-teenagers, and teenagers.
The Rainbow Round Table (RRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) is dedicated to supporting the information needs of LGBTQIA+ people, from professional library workers to the population at large. Founded in 1970, it is the nation's first gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender professional organization. While the current Rainbow moniker was adopted in 2019, the group has had various names during its 50-year history.
In the post-Stonewall era, the role of libraries in providing information and services to LGBTQ individuals has been a topic of discussion among library professionals. Libraries can often play an important role for LGBTQ individuals looking to find information about coming out, health, and family topics, as well as leisure reading. In the past 50 years, advocate organizations for LGBTQ content in libraries have emerged, and numerous theorists have discussed various aspects of LGBTQ library service including privacy concerns, programming, collection development considerations and librarian/staff education needs, as well as special services for juvenile and teen patrons.
Alex Gino is a genderqueer American children's book writer. Gino's debut book, Melissa, was the winner of the 2016 Stonewall Book Award and the 2016 Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBT Children's/Young Adult.
Abdi Nazemian is an Iranian-American author, screenwriter, and producer. His debut novel, The Walk-In Closet, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction at the 27th Lambda Literary Awards. He has subsequently received a second Lambda Literary Award for his young adult novel Only This Beautiful Moment, as well as a Stonewall Book Award for Only This Beautiful Moment and a Stonewall Honor for Like a Love Story, both from the American Library Association.
This Book Is Gay is a nonfiction book written by Juno Dawson and illustrated by Spike Gerrell, first published in the United Kingdom in 2014 with subsequent publication in the US in June 2015. The book is a "manual to all areas of life as an LGBT person" and "is meant to serve as a guidebook for young people discovering their sexual identity and how to navigate those uncomfortable waters."
Israel David Fishman founded the Task Force on Gay Liberation in 1970. In 2002, the American Library Association named the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award after him.
Maia Kobabe is an American cartoonist and author.
Flamer is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel by Mike Curato. It is set in 1995, in a Boy Scouts summer camp, and tells the story of Aiden, who is bullied for his appearance, including acting in a manner considered stereotypical of gay men. Curato was a scout and based his experience as a closeted teenager to write the novel.
Lawn Boy is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel written by Jonathan Evison and published in 2018 by Algonquin Books. It tells the story of Mike Muñoz, a young adult Mexican American who has faced hardship ever since his childhood and is now going through a phase of self-discovery.
All Boys Aren't Blue is a young adult non-fiction "memoir-manifesto" by journalist and activist George M. Johnson, published April 28, 2020, by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Starting in 2021, there have been a considerable number of books banned or challenged in parts of the United States. Most of the targeted books have to do with race, gender, and sexuality. Unlike most book challenges in the past, whereby parents or other stakeholders in the community would engage teachers and school administrators in a debate over a title, local groups have received support from conservative advocacy organizations working to nationalize the efforts focused on certain subjects. They have also been more likely to involve legal and legislative measures rather than just conversations in local communities. Journalists, academics, librarians, and others commonly link the coordinated, often well-funded book challenges to other reactionary efforts to restrict what students should learn about systemic bias and the history of the United States. Hundreds of books have been challenged, including high-profile examples like Maus by Art Spiegelman and New Kid by Jerry Craft.
Gender Queer: A Memoir is a 2019 graphic memoir written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe. It recounts Kobabe's journey from adolescence to adulthood and the author's exploration of gender identity and sexuality, ultimately identifying as being outside of the gender binary.
References
- 1 2 Roliff, Riley (4 July 2023). "This new Ohio-based digital Queer Liberation Library is made 'by and for the queer community' [AUDIO]". The Buckeye Flame. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ Rhodes, Adam (1 August 2023). "Queer libraries are on the front lines of the fight against book bans". Xtra Magazine. Pink Triangle Press. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- 1 2 3 Garnand, Ileana (25 October 2023). "New LGBTQ+ library launches online". Lonestar Live. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- 1 2 Wolfe, Elizabeth (16 December 2023). "Book bans are harming LGBTQ people, advocates say. This online library is fighting back". CNN. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ "Challenge Reporting". American Library Association. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ Garcia, Raymond (22 March 2023). "American Library Association reports record number of demands to censor library books and materials in 2022". ALA News. American Library Association. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ Garcia, Raymond (19 September 2023). "American Library Association Releases Preliminary Data on 2023 Book Challenges". ALA News. American Library Association. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ Figueroa, Ariana (9 October 2023). "First Amendment advocates fight growing number of U.S. book bans". Nebraska Examiner. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ↑ "Membership Policy". Queer Liberation Library. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- 1 2 Valle, Jay (June 11, 2024). "A digital library offers hundreds of free LGBTQ books in response to wave of school bans". NBC News. Retrieved June 20, 2024.