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Banned a book in my town library after reading the whole thing first

I used to think book bans were always bad, but then our local library in Austin pulled 'Gender Queer' from the teen section. I sat down and read the whole graphic novel, and there were a few explicit pages that I honestly wouldn't want a 13-year-old picking up. Has anyone else here changed their stance after actually reading what's being banned?

2 comments

2 Comments

wood.john1mo ago

@taylor_flores I get what you're saying but I dunno if we need to go full book ban over a few pages. I've got a 14 year old niece and she sees way more explicit stuff on Instagram and TikTok every single day than what's in Gender Queer. Like have you actually scrolled through social media lately? That's the real concern to me. Libraries at least have some structure and parents can be involved if they want. I feel like we're picking on books because they're an easy target while kids are watching way worse on their phones without any adults around. Just my two cents though.

taylor_flores1mo ago

It was the exact same thing for me with a different book at our library in San Antonio. Read all of it cover to cover and saw things I wouldn't show a young teenager myself. Really opened my eyes that context matters way more than just being against censorship on principle.