Every teenager knows… make something forbidden, and everyone will want it. Throughout history, the phrase banned book doesn’t conjure images of the good guys. Worldwide, and increasingly in the US, religious conservatives have been leading a movement to ban any books that don’t line up with their worldview. Surely, many of these pushes are sincere attempts of parents to protect their children. In reality, it often feels like social engineering intended to stamp out everyone not like them.
The religious community has all but lost the trust of our LGBTQA+ siblings. We at Re: are doing something about it. When literature is silenced, important stories aren’t told. Invariably, the marginalized, the poor, and the powerless are the ones whose narratives get disappeared. Given the rates of suicide among queer youth, this amounts to spiritual genocide. Regardless of the intent, restricting anyone’s right to be authentically who they are is wrong.
Censorship of people’s existence is against our beliefs at Re. It abolishes part of us all when we deny any of us. Help us to defeat this by signing up for the newsletter today. Find out about how you can be part of our movement.
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Read our archive of banned book QoTD posts
- Get out, over 50% have powers? – banned book QOTD
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” Among the List of Banned Books in Iowa on PEN America’s website. If you haven’t visited the PEN America website, you should. The organization describes itself as standing “at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide.” For over 100 years, they have stood behind writers and their rights to express themselves… and our rights to access this bedrock of culture: the written word. Since 1922, this organization has taken action to protect… Read more: Get out, over 50% have powers? – banned book QOTD - Re:faith protects its rights to free practice of religion
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Open Letter and Press Release – Urgent Notice Regarding Book Removal Legislation Dear Spencer Community Schools Officials, I hope this letter finds you well. We are the leaders and members of a faith community called Re:faith (https://re-faith.org). We write to call your attention a matter of great importance concerning the recent legislation requiring schools to remove certain books from their shelves, HF496. This law purports to support parental rights, instead imposing the will of state government. It uses the trappings of educational terminology and then perverts the terms’ meaning. “Age appropriate” is redefined to fit the purposes… Read more: Re:faith protects its rights to free practice of religion - So, not a great day then? – banned book QOTD
“Stupid stupid stupid. Stupid. Stupid body. Stupid brain. Stupid boys and stupid girls. Stupid everything.” #1 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020. So, sometimes we don’t have anything profound to say. We want to support Alex Gino, whose book George has often been challenged or banned across the US. Want to read more from frequently-banned books? Draw inspiration from our sacred texts. And boy, don’t we sometimes feel George too? Being transgender, being gay, being bi, being short, being joyful when you hear that song, these are not things we choose. They… Read more: So, not a great day then? – banned book QOTD - That girl is great, isn’t she? – banned book QOTD
“I do have friends, but they don’t know me, only someone I’ve created to take my place.” #10 on the PEN America’s list of Most Banned Books list 2022-2023 school year. Very popular Ellen Hopkins is extremely popular… New York Times best-selling author of young adult and adult novels Ellen Hopkins has won many awards, writing nonfiction titles with punchy, concise titles and go-for-the-jugular commitment to telling truth. She’s also a favorite of book banning enthusiasts, earning the distinction of the “most banned author” in the US. She writes about topics that certainly never affect young adults (sex, drugs, rape),… Read more: That girl is great, isn’t she? – banned book QOTD - Why be like all of the others – banned book QOTD
“The less we understand a group in society—the less we bother to learn—the more misconceptions and worries we have.” #10 (tie) on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. This book does some important things: It treats our LGBTQ+ siblings with respect. It speaks to them about things that matter. (The last we checked, humans are sexual beings.) So, it makes sense to discuss things important to teenage humans. They have, after all, been known to engage in sexual behavior. And let’s not start out by ignoring the approximately 9% of the global population… Read more: Why be like all of the others – banned book QOTD - A fresh perspective changes the world – BB QoTD
“It was the first time I knew beautiful. Had imagined it for myself. Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.” #3 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. Choosing to make beauty or obscure it Artists of all kinds create beauty from ordinary words or materials. It’s alchemy, really, making something precious out of something ordinary. Artists gift their culture, their world, with the beauty they do, as Morrison describes. How sad then, to see recipients of that beauty reject it. And not only reject it, but… Read more: A fresh perspective changes the world – BB QoTD - Now where was that skin tone? – banned book QOTD
“Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.” #11 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019. Controlling is not caring Hosseini reminds us that, though parents rightly work to instill values and skills, their job isn’t to control children or their expression of themselves. Just like adults, children and youth have the right to be authentically who they are. When parents try to control access to literature—to culture itself—they stunt their child’s ability to understand and express who they are. They limit the palette kids have… Read more: Now where was that skin tone? – banned book QOTD - Fire can never burn it down – banned book QOTD
“A word to the unwise. / Torch every book. / Char every page. / Burn every word to ash. / Ideas are incombustible. / And therein lies your real fear.” #10 (tie) on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. And that is exactly the fear of the parents working to ban this book and others like it… They fear that being exposed to these ideas could somehow give their child “ideas.” Maybe exposure to LGBTQ+ culture could “turn them gay” or some such. It’s not rational. But then, fear isn’t rational. It exists… Read more: Fire can never burn it down – banned book QOTD - Greater good not so great – banned book QoTD
″‘Many atrocities,’ Rhys purred, ‘have been done in the name of the greater good.‘” #10 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. See what we are doing about it at Re:faith. How apropos! Censorship of books that contain any LGBTQ+ characters at all is an atrocity that does immeasurable damage. It’s done in the name of protecting children or protecting parents’ rights. But banishing representation of LGBTQ+ youth from literature is an atrocity, just the same. re-faith.org See Full Bio - Grief? The blame is better – banned book QOTD
“More than grief, more than anger, there is a need. Someone to blame.” #9 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. See what we are doing about it at Re:faith. So who cares? Ashley Hope Perez is such a gifted and persuasive author that we couldn’t resist another quote from her. This time, it’s from a perspective piece she authored for NPR. Though many would-be book banners focus on parents’ rights, Pérez focuses on students’ rights. Out of Darkness is written for a young adult audience and deals with sexuality. And most teenagers’… Read more: Grief? The blame is better – banned book QOTD - Sure is a good point–banned book quote of the day
“It’s not that I had anything against Jesus or God, I was just underwhelmed by the evidence.” #7 on the American Library Association’s list of top 13 most challenged books of 2022. What an indictment of communities of faith! And he nails it. In the US, the loudest voices represent the religious right, who seem more interested in sanctioning sinners than walking a Christlike path. What evidence might convince this boy? What if one of love, warmth, and support characterized his interactions with Christians instead? Many people of faith struggle with questions about how their religion views LGBTQA+ issues. But… Read more: Sure is a good point–banned book quote of the day - So, maybe better than nothing?–banned book quote of the day
“Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.” #5 (tie) on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. See what we are doing about it at Re:faith. re-faith.org See Full Bio - It’s to the northwest–banned book quote of the day
“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” #5 (tie) on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. See what we are doing about it at Re:faith. re-faith.org See Full Bio - Found in the crowd–banned book quote of the day
“You sometimes don’t know you exist until you realize someone like you existed before.” #2 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. Come see what we are doing about it at Re: re-faith.org See Full Bio - Good advice rarely followed – banned book QOTD
“But you gotta live your own life. You gotta take care a your own sh*t before you get started doing things for errybody else.” #10 (tie) on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. See what we are doing about it at Re:faith. Contrary to political rhetoric, banning books doesn’t “protect kids.” Book banning denies reality, trying to shove it into a shape that is more palatable, hoping to gaslight kids into believing this made-up version. If you want to do that to your own kids. Well, I think that’s a bad idea, but… Read more: Good advice rarely followed – banned book QOTD - You see me, here I am–banned book quote of the day
“Visibility is power, and our existence challenges societal norms.” #1 on the American Library Association’s list of Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022. Come see what we are doing about it at Re: re-faith.org See Full Bio - Make it a unique mess–banned book quote of the day
“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part…. you’re messing with their entire life. Everything…affects everything.” #3 on the American Library Association’s list of top 100 most banned and challenged books, 2010-2019. See what we are doing about it at Re: re-faith.org See Full Bio - So many losing their voice – banned book quote of the day
“Whispering makes a narrow place narrower.” #68 on the American Library Association’s list of top 100 most banned and challenged books, 2010-2019, but really making a move since then. See what we are doing about it at Re: re-faith.org See Full Bio - Prolly three-quarters – banned book quote of the day“Not sure if there is a God or why some all-powerful being would give half a damn about the likes of me.” – from Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, a frequently banned book#98 on the American Library Association’s list of top 100 most banned and challenged books, 2010-2019, but more recently among the top ten in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register (bummer about the paywall). re-faith.org See Full Bio
- Usually responsible – banned book quote of the day“George and Harold were usually responsible kids. Whenever anything bad happened, George and Harold were usually responsible.” – from The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, a frequently banned book#2 on the American Library Association’s list of top 100 most banned and challenged books, 2010-2019 re-faith.org See Full Bio
- Swiss army people – banned book quote of the day“My grandmother’s greatest gift was tolerance. Now, in the old days, Indians used to be forgiving of any kind of eccentricity. In fact, weird people were often celebrated. Epileptics were often shamans because people just assumed that God gave seizure-visions to the lucky ones. Gay people were seen as magical too. I mean, like in many cultures, men were viewed as warriors and women were viewed as caregivers. But gay people, being both male and female, were seen as both warriors and caregivers. Gay people could do anything. They were like Swiss Army knives! My grandmother had no use for… Read more: Swiss army people – banned book quote of the day
- Perspective – banned book quote of the day“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” – Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a frequently banned book#15 on the American Library Association’s list of top 100 most banned and challenged books, 2010-2019 re-faith.org See Full Bio