Book

Aug 04, 2023

Metro reporter

Metro reporter

Madison Public Library Central branch.

A Madison Public Library patron would find little evidence that the most fiercely opposed books in the country have LGBTQ+ themes.

Unless a patron realizes they probably have seen those targeted books on display.

The Madison library system has periodically showcased and displayed some of the most challenged publications, regardless of the roiling culture wars in which far-right conservatives have sought to keep certain books out of public view and, in particular, away from minors.

Tana Elias, who runs media relations for the Madison Public Library, has been watching anti-LGBTQ+ book protests transpire around the country and is keeping an eye out for the same rhetoric locally.

“I think we’re ready and watching what other libraries are seeing both in the national view and locally,” Elias said. “There are states that have passed legislation to hold teachers or librarians accountable for things children are exposed to. There was an effort to do that legislation in Wisconsin. We’re definitely prepared.”

Six of the seven most censored or challenged books of 2022 were LGBTQ-youth-themed, according to the American Library Association.

One organization that wants to cut off access to those books is called Gays Against Groomers, a national group that was founded in 2022 and has activists in Wisconsin.

“I just think that aiming books at children explicitly for the purposes of teaching them different sexual positions is wrong,” said Patrick Sheridan, who is co-director of chapters for Gays Against Groomers. “I believe children should be allowed to be children. To introduce material to children for sexuality? I don’t believe in that. Children should be able to grow up. I feel like we should have actual experts who will introduce those concepts at the appropriate time.”

And when is that appropriate time?

“Around 18,” Sheridan said.

Related story: Anti-LGBTQ+ tactics spread in Wisconsin, but so does support

The exploration of youth sexuality in novels is not new. In 1951’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” for example, author J.D. Salinger included the protagonist Holden Caulfield’s profanity and sexual adventures with characters such as a pimp and a prostitute.

“Rye” has been simultaneously one of the most taught books and most censored books in the United States since the 1960s. According to the American Library Association, the book was still on the list of most challenged books as recently as 2009 — 58 years after its publication.

That book portrayed heterosexuality.

Nowhere is the overlap between hot-button politicized issues and the increase in book challenges more evident than in the rise of attempts to ban books containing sexual and LGBTQ+ content. In 2023 alone, 63 anti-trans bills have been signed into law; an additional 10 have passed and are awaiting a governor's signature. Many of these laws specifically target gender-affirming health care for trans youth. Meanwhile, 7 out of the top 13 most challenged books of 2022 cited LGBTQ+ content, and all 13 were charged with containing sexually explicit material.

“Oh, yeah, there’s books out there specifically to sexualize children,” Sheridan said. “There’s a book called ‘This Book is Gay’ and that book describes to children how they can use Grindr to hook up with other homosexual people. That’s the thing. This kind of stuff isn’t talked about. The media is like, ‘Oh, they’re banning LGBTQ books,’ and that further inflames the tensions because then half the country thinks the other half hates LGBTQs.”

“This Book is Gay” tied with three other titles for the 10th most challenged book last year, according to the American Library Association.

Its author, former sexual education and wellness teacher Juno Dawson, told Rolling Stone for an article published in April that she didn’t intend her work as a children’s book.

“But I also think LGBTQ+ people should be taught about sexual relationships,” Dawson is quoted as saying. “We're all very clear ‘This Book is Gay’ is not for children. This is a book kept in the young adult section, like a lot of the books that are on those banned book lists.”

Another book targeted for censorship, “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson, sat prominently on display this summer at the Madison library system’s Hawthorne Branch on the east side. The 2020 book is a series of essays about the author’s journey growing up as a queer Black boy and speaks to other queer Black boys who may be feeling alone in that experience.

The American Library Association documented 86 separate attempts to censor “All Boys Aren’t Blue” at libraries, making it No. 2 on the challenged list.

The book includes topics such as consent, agency (feeling empowered), and sexual abuse aimed at Black boys in particular.

Queerness, a term used to describe identities including gay, bisexual and questioning one’s sexual or gender orientation, and childhood sexual abuse are under-discussed in the Black community, particularly for Black boys, LGBTQ+ advocates say.

“Being gay in the Black community is taboo as hell,” said Tyrone Creech, a youth coordinator at the Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools, or GSAFE, in Madison. “It’s not something that’s talked about. You’re not Black enough for the Black community and not gay enough to be in the gay community. It’s like you’re always coming out.”

A book like “All Boys aren’t Blue” can provide a critical element for an LGBTQ+ youth of color in particular, Creech said. Yes, he said, it addresses topics that include sexual elements, but providing literature on those topics isn’t sexualizing children.

Creech said he participates in robust conversations with youths about every part of their lives and identities. He considers it part of a process of educating them about themselves.

“People who oppose us always think that we only teach our kids about sex,” Creech said. “They think that’s like solely what we do for some weird reason. It’s teaching them how to be activists and how to use their voices and how to stand up for themselves, but part of that is also teaching them how to protect themselves. I think one of the biggest things about schools and curriculum is they’re not teaching students how to survive outside of high school.”

That, perhaps, is where libraries come in.

Librarians are responsible for choosing which books are displayed in Madison Public Library branches. So far, while there have been thousands of challenges nationwide to certain books, the Madison area has not seen wide protests about displaying LGBTQ+ books

Sheridan believes books geared toward teaching children LGBTQ+ topics should be behind the counter where only adults can check them out.

Elias said that in Madison, that decision will remain up to the librarian.

“It’s really up to our individual librarians,” she said. “We might have Pride displays in June or August, for example. Usually it’s professional staff making a display based on interests at that particular library. We feel that we’re making books available to a variety of people and we really feel it is a child or parent’s right to choose what they read.”

The Madison Public Library will deal with the issue of anti-book protests if and when it comes, she said.

“I think those groups target communities that are a little more receptive,” Elias said. “We have city legislation that is very protective of LGBTQ people, so I don’t know if that’s an easy sell in Madison.”

Nicholas Garton joined the Cap Times in 2019 after three years as a features writer for Madison365. He was also the sports editor of Madison College’s newspaper, The Clarion. He writes about development, neighborhoods, businesses and race issues.

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