Banned Books Week!
Happy banned books week everybody. As I’m sure most of you know, “homosexual” content is one of the most frequent reasons a book is challenged even today. So here’s a brief rundown of the bans and challenges, in the past and presently, to books about women loving women.
14th Century
Sappho : You all most likely know Sappho and have read some of her fragments, they’re all over tumblr. But you may not have known that the reason they are just fragments and not whole poems is largely due to the Catholic and Byzantine churches’ crusade to destroy most of her work, due to her explicit love for women and paganism, in the 14th century. The edition I have in this image, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho is a translation of every fragment available and includes brackets to indicate where pieces of her poetry have been lost. There are pages where only a single word remains of a poem we will never know. x
20th Century
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall : Immediately following its publication in 1928 and up until 1969 this book, with almost no sexual content but clearly lesbian characters, was banned in England due to violating the Obscene Publications Act of 1857. The book went to trial in both England (where it was originally published) and in New York, each trial coming to the opposite conclusion. In New York it was successfully argued that lesbianism was not inherently obscene while the court in England refused to consider the endorsement of various esteemed authors, including Virginia Woolf. Newspapers lambasted the book, one stating “I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel,” calling the book “moral poison” for the soul. x x
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith : I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the self-censorship that occurred in lesbian publishing. Essentially, if a book ended in suicide and/or a mental breakdown it could escape the label of “obscene.” Otherwise, the book would be seized as soon as it was published or rejected by publishers outright. The Price of Salt was the first to buck this trend and include a happy ending for its lesbian characters. Smith had previously published with Harper & Bros; they refused to publish this book, and she had to find another publishing house. She eventually published it in 1952 under the pseudonym Claire Morgan and wouldn’t claim it as her own book for more than 25 years. x x
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden : Originally published in 1982, this book was one of the most challenged of the ‘90s, although the most notable incident occurred in Kansas in 1993. There, a gay rights group donated several copies to the Kansas City public school district. A group of parents got together and burned copies of the book on the steps of the Olathe South High School in protest (which was the inspiration for The Year They Burned The Books about, you guessed it, burning books) and the school board not only decided to reject the donation but to remove copies of the book that were already on school shelves. The ACLU filed a lawsuit and in 1995 a U.S. District Court court judge ruled that removing the books violated the students’ right to free speech (go First Amendment!) and the books had to be returned to the library shelves. x
Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence edited by Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan: Rev. Peter Conley, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, saw a newspaper article advertising an upcoming TV interview with the authors and decided, without reading it, that the title “Lesbian Nuns” was pornographic, sensational, and “an affront to the sensitivity of Roman Catholics” (having read the book, I can personally tell you it’s none of that). He called the vice president of Channel 4, the channel airing the program, and had the interview canceled. The Archdiocese also banned the book in the entirety of Boston, MA. The whole business only had the effect of drawing attention to the book, as often happens when institutions attempt to ban books and limit people’s freedom of speech. There was further objection from the public and when touring to promote the book, Curb was denied a hotel room and had copies of the book seized by customs officials in Ireland. x x x
Present
Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee : Star-Crossed is a novel written for a middle grade audience, about two girls in eighth grade, even endorsed by Scholastic for sale at book fairs. Despite this, Dee was asked to censor herself and refrain from discussing the book when asked to give a series of talks to sixth graders. Although the poster for the event included Star-Crossed’s cover, Dee was only allowed to give it a cursory summary. Teachers feared “parental backlash” if kids mentioned that the presenter had discussed a book where a young girl develops a crush on another young girl. x Another Middle Grade book, P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy, faced similar struggles while trying to organize its school book tour. x
The Color Purple by Alice Walker : Consistently on ALA’s most banned list for homosexuality, rape, and incest; ranked the 17th most challenged book from 2000-2009 (And also 17th from ‘90 – ‘99). It’s been removed from school libraries and curriculum across the country, sometimes returned and sometimes only accessible with parent permission. I’d need a whole post dedicated just to this book to explain all the challenges it has gone through but if you’re curious, the first link lists several of them. x x
Am I Blue? Coming Out of the Silence : It was opposed by Arkansas group “Parents Protecting the Minds of Children” specifically because of gay content and because proceeds from the sale went to PFLAG. It was also targeted in a Florida town because several library patrons objected to it being displayed. One short story, “Am I Blue,” was challenged after being taught in an eighth grade classroom, but eventually retained. x x
The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson :
Personally not big on this book and you can read some of my thoughts on it here. Regardless, in 2009, a concerned parent made a complaint against the Leesburg, Florida public library requesting that The Bermudez Triangle be removed from the YA shelves due to “sexual content,” although the city council voted to keep the book. Having read it, I can tell you there’s almost none, unless you count two girls kissing to be overtly sexual. It was removed from the Bartlesville Oklahoma Public School libraries due to a parent objecting to the “homosexual themes” and its status as a book of “no moral fiber.” Parents don’t seem to mince their words when concerned about their children’s moral development. A librarian contacted Maureen Johnson and got the public involved. The book was reshelved, but now requires parental permission to check out and the school librarian lost her job. x x x
If you thought this was interesting, I really encourage you to check out the American Library Association website and read some more banned books!
[image description: a collage of the books listed, overlaid with prison bars and caution tape]
Published
ForLoveFromFear 