Challenges
Two Boys Kissing has frequently been challenged. According to the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, Two Boys Kissing was the 18th-most banned and challenged book in the United States between 2010 and 2019. [10] Additionally, it topped the organization's top ten list three times: 2015, 2016, and 2018 because of homosexual and sexually-explicit content, as well as because it condones public displays of affection. [11]
In 2014, a parent of a child at Fauquier County High School appealed for Two Boys Kissing to be removed from the school district's libraries because of the cover artwork, which shows two boys kissing, which violates the school's rules against public displays of affection, [12] as well as because the book has 117 references to words like "sex" and "kiss." [13] A public hearing with the Fauquier County School Board led to a committee unanimously deciding that the book would remain on the shelves. [13] [14]
On October 19, 2018, religious activist Robert Dorr borrowed four LGBT+ books from the Orange City Public Library in Orange City, Iowa (including Levithan's Two Boys Kissing) and proceeded to burn the books while streaming the video on social media. [15] Dorr claimed he was "exercis[ing] his freedom of speech and the freedom of [his] Biblical faith." [16] In 2019, Dorr was convicted of fifth-degree Criminal Mischief for destroying library property. [15]
In 2022, Two Boys Kissing was listed among 52 books banned by the Alpine School District following the implementation of Utah law H.B. 374, “Sensitive Materials In Schools," [17] 42% of which “feature LBGTQ+ characters and or themes.” [18] [17] Many of the books were removed because they were considered to contain pornographic material according to the new law, which defines porn using the following criteria:
- "The average person" would find that the material, on the whole, "appeals to prurient interest in sex" [19]
- The material "is patently offensive in the description or depiction of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sadomasochistic abuse, or excretion" [19]
- The material, on the whole, "does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value." [19]
