I want my kid to have access to all kinds of books at the library.
He mostly wants to read books about things like space pirates and orcs, but if he wants to read books that acknowledge gay, lesbian, and trans people exist and discusses their experiences, I oppose any effort to keep those books away from him.
Even if he wanted to read a fantasy novel by Ayn Rand, that would be fine with me. I wouldn't be happy about it, but I wouldn't dream of telling him he couldn't read Atlas Shrugged.
Oh, I might follow it up by discussing my thoughts on the moral bankruptcy of Randian libertarianism, with specific reference to the societal damage libertarians have been causing here in New Hampshire.
But should he be able to read that stuff? Sure, if he wants to.
My son is a good kid and I trust his values enough to not freak out over which books he has access to. I don't see it in my role as a parent to put blinders on his social and intellectual development.
I guess not everyone feels that way about their kid.
Or, more to the point, about other people's kids. It is a problem for me when busybodies, claiming to speak for "parents," work to undermine other peoples children's horizons by trying to ban books from public libraries and schools.
Of course this trend started in Florida, where Gov. Ronald DeSantis' book banners have submitted long lists of books they find objectionable on the grounds of having too much "woke content." One of the books they banned was "Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates." That book was pulled from school libraries in Jacksonville because it made references to some of the first Latino player in the Baseball Hall of Fame's experiences with racism.
Librarians in Florida who object to this are putting their jobs at risk. Even giant corporations who object, like Disney, are being punished unjustly.
Unfortunately, terrible ideas that start in Florida are usually quick to spread to New Hampshire.
And so, in upcoming municipal elections, the town of Raymond, NH will be voting on two warrants that will undermine the independence of librarians from political interference and add a new layer of censorship to the books that children have access to.
The first of these warrants says that the children's section of the library wont include any books "containing nudity, gender identity, sex or sexual references in writing or illustrations."
I understand that this warrant was mainly targeted at anything with LGBTQ+ related content, in concert with the anti-trans rage-de-jure happening on the right these days - but my reading of the warrant's text suggests that, if it was passed, it would then become illegal to have a Bible in the children's section of the library. I suspect that's not what the petitioner intended.
The second warrant further seeks to undermine the library by banning it from having any interaction the American Library Association (ALA). This is a threat to the libraries independence and ability to function as a high-quality library. Questions of ALA membership rightly lie with the library's Board of Trustees, and shouldn't be left to the judgment of culture warriors who have accidentally tried to ban the Bible.
Meanwhile, in the legislature, HB 514 has been introduced that would "remove staff and teachers in K-12 schools from exemptions to state obscenity laws, potentially requiring school officials to remove books proactively or face misdemeanor charges."
Of course this would have a chilling effect on the availability of books in schools, and would specifically harm queer kids who may be interested in literature that would help them to make sense of their identity and their place in the world.
Unlike the Bible-banning, this is not by accident. As Adam Kostko argues, harming queer kids is the point.