Book cake (by Lesley Smith (Freelance Journalist))
I’ve had librarians say to me, “People in my school don’t agree with homosexuality, so it’s difficult to have your book on the shelves.” Here’s the thing: Being gay is not an issue, it is an identity. It is not something that you can agree or disagree with. It is a fact, and must be defended and represented as a fact.
To use another part of my identity as an example: if someone said to me, “I’m sorry, but we can’t carry that book because it’s so Jewish and some people in my school don’t agree with Jewish culture,” I would protest until I reached my last gasp. Prohibiting gay books is just as abhorrent…
Discrimination is not a legitimate point of view. Silencing books silences the readers who need them most. And silencing these readers can have dire, tragic consequences. Never forget who these readers are. They are just as curious and anxious about life as any other teenager.
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David Levithan - Supporting Gay Teen Literature (via cake-light) SERIOUSLY! I’m sick of LGBTQ culture being treated as just some political issue. Queer people aren’t just a handful of people who want to get married, okay? We’re real, and we’re fucking important, and we need to be represented accurately and positively in the media and on the book shelf, especially in schools, where kids are still discovering who they are and maybe they feel really alone and they need a book they can relate to … (via riotisnotquiet) This is so true. I grew up queer with so few resources at hand…and that was just the 80s and 90s. When I was just finding out who I was and wanted to read everything I could, there were no books that spoke to my existence or experience. In fact, the closest I came to reading about being queer was in my 7th grade health textbook. I can’t remember the name but I can tell you I went to school in Boynton Beach, Florida in the late 80s for 7th grade. The health book, in explaining homosexuality, addressed ONLY MALE homosexuality and said that it often happened because boys masturbate and sometimes in groups and then they can’t get over the experience. This is not information; it’s misinformation. Moreover, it held nothing for me—a vaguely female queer person—well, nothing but confusion. |
