Book Bans

With the increased number of states banning books, particularly those with LGBTQ+ themes, I wanted to research the history of book bans. And it turns out that book bans have been around for a very long time, especially in the US. Here’s the fascinating information I learned:

Book banning or its cousin, book burning, goes all the way back to ancient times when the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the burning of books in 213 BCE (Before Common Era or Christ for those who understand the previous BC time designation), with exceptions for agriculture, medicine, and divination, according to the CMU Libraries. Later, the Roman poet Ovid was banished in 8 CE (Common Era) for his book Ars Amatoria . Fast forward several centuries, and you’ll discover (no big surprise) that religious authorities banned books perceived as heresy or threats to religious doctrine. For example, the burning of Peter Abelard’s theology lectures, Theologia Summi Boni , in 1121 and the creation of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum by Pope Paul IV in 1559. The very first book banned in America goes back to the 1600s, with Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan . Apparently, the “wrong” politics will get you banned every single time. The Puritans didn’t appreciate the criticism of the Puritan government in Massachusetts.The infamous Comstock Act of 1873 in the US made it illegal to distribute “obscene” materials, including books, through the mail. You may remember this in relation to the controversy over mailing abortion medications, where the Comstock Act prohibits the mailing of materials, including anything “designed or intended for the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion.” In the 20th century, book bans were used to suppress socialist and racial justice literature, most famously Huckleberry Finn and To Kill A Mockingbird , but there were many more instances.According to the American Library Association, between 2022 and 2023, there has been a 65% increase in book bans. According to a survey by PEN America, about 10,000 books were banned from US schools under Republican-led censorship laws in the 2023/2024 academic year. Not surprisingly, many of the book titles targeted dealt with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ issues. On January 24, 2025, Trump’s Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights dismissed 11 cases regarding challenged books in schools. Then they eliminated an oversight position to investigate challenges to book bans, promptly issuing a press release stating that they had ended what they referred to as “Biden’s Book Ban Hoax.”Alarmingly, these bans are not limited to public schools but include public libraries. So not only does the right wish to police the schools, but they also want to control what the general public can read.Want to know where the concentration of book-banning efforts lies? Here’s the breakdown…The top eight states with the most book bans include Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Virginia. Wanna be leaders in book bans that have seen attempts at censorship include Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. If you look at the list, you will note the states that have already been successful are all red states, but that has not stopped the movement from trying to get its grimy paws on blue states. This should frighten us all.This is by no means an exhaustive list of banned books, but some of the more famous ones include: The Handmaiden’s Tale , To Kill A Mockingbird , The Color Purple , And Tango Makes Three , T he Color Purple , Of Mice and Men , The Kite Runner , The Catcher in the Rye , Thirteen Reasons, All Boys Aren’t Blue , 1984 . Guess what’s missing, but has rape, incest, and other explicit content that is listed as a reason for why some books are banned…yup, you guessed it, The Bible. Another book that I remember being required reading, but was incredibly disturbing, was Lolita . Of course, the US Government never banned that book, despite how overtly the book pandered to a pedophile’s wet dream.So far, our Sapphic books are still being sold on Amazon, but that could change at any time considering Amazon’s policy that, “We don’t sell certain content including content that we determine is hate speech, promotes the abuse or sexual exploitation of children, contains pornography, glorifies rape or pedophilia, advocates terrorism, or other material we deem inappropriate or offensive.” Basically, they can do whatever they want and loop any LGBTQ+ book into the “inappropriate” or “offensive” category, especially if they are pressured by the Trump Administration.

Keep your eyes peeled on this. I’m not saying we should panic, but be prepared. I suppose there is something to be said about owning physical copies of books. I’m not suggesting anyone should boycott Amazon; we’ve been down that road, and it is a personal choice. If, however, you want to make sure you retain ownership of your ebooks, there are alternatives. It seems that all the major players in the e-book business make it clear that you do not own an e-book, but instead purchase a license to read it. The only sure way to own the book is to purchase it from a Publisher, The Author, or a distributor like Bella Books. FYI, all my books, except those that are KU, can be purchased through my publisher. Feel free to check them out!

The Invisible Woman: A Lesbian Superhero Story Available for pre-order now!