Angie Thomas

Many states have passed legislation committing librarians and book vendors to years in prison if they have 'obscene' titles to minors. At least five states have been passed and nine others are pending, allowing for the criminal conviction of school and library workers involved. Librarians had been banned from suing for obscene materials in almost every state, but recently, an increase in suspicion and indignation over some books in schools and libraries has resulted in legislation being changed.

Under new Republican regulations, librarians in North Dakota will face 30-day jail sentences and a $1,500 fine for publishing banned books about'sexual identity' and "gender identity.' The initiative comes as a result of a national movement of conservatives trying to discourage children from reading books about LGBTQ topics, but most of the time these moves are targeted at school libraries rather than public ones. Critics claim that the step is discriminatory and that it will encourage the restriction of material that is not actually obscene.

According to the researchers, politicians and newly formed parent's organizations are pressuring schools to remove texts from classrooms, which is similar to the anti-Communist McCarthy period and moral purges of the early 1980s. The banned books were mainly young adult fiction, with some of them dealing with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer protagonists, as well as those focused on race and identity. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, the most commonly banned book, was cut by 41 school districts. It traces the author's 'journey of self-identity' and "what it means to be nonbinary and asexual."