In an increasingly divisive political sphere, Becka Robbins focuses on what she knows best — books.
Operating out of a tiny room in Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the US, Robbins uses donations from customers to ship boxes of books across the country to groups that want them.
In an effort she calls “Books Not Bans,” she sends titles about queer history, sexuality, romance and more — many of which are increasingly hard to come by in the face of a rapidly growing movement by conservative advocacy groups and lawmakers to ban them from public schools and libraries.
Photo: AP
“The book bans are awful, the attempt at erasure,” Robbins said. She asked herself how she could get these books into the hands of the people who need them the most.
Beginning in May last year, she started raising money and looking for recipients. Her books have gone to places such as a pride center in west Texas and an LGBTQ-friendly high school in Alabama.
Customers are especially enthusiastic about helping Robbins send books to places in states like Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, often writing notes of support to include in the packages. More than 40 percent of all book bans from July 2022 to June last year were in Florida, more than any other state.
Behind Florida are Texas and Missouri, according to a report by PEN America, a nonprofit literature advocacy group.
Book bans and attempted bans have been hitting record highs, and efforts extend as much to public libraries as school libraries, the American Library Association said.
Because the totals are based on media accounts and reports submitted by librarians, the association said it regards its numbers as snapshots, with many bans left unrecorded.
PEN America’s report said that 30 percent of the bans include characters of color or discuss race and racism, and 30 percent have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
The most sweeping challenges often originate with conservative organizations, such as Moms for Liberty, which has organized banning efforts nationwide and called for more parental control over books available to children.
Moms for Liberty is not anti-LGBTQ+, cofounder Tiffany Justice has said.
However, about 38 percent of book challenges that “directly originated” from the group have LGBTQ+ themes, the library association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom said.
Moms for Liberty challenges books that are sexually explicit, not because they cover LGBTQ+ topics, Justice said.
Among those topping banned lists have been Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, George Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.
It is more important than ever to makes these kinds of books available to everyone, Robbins said.
“Fiction teaches us how to dream,” she said. “It teaches us how to connect with people who are not like ourselves, it teaches us how to listen and emphasize.”
She has sent 740 books so far, with each box worth US$300 to US$400, depending on the titles.
At the new Rose Dynasty Center in Lakeland, Florida, the books donated by Fabulosa are already on the shelves, said Jason DeShazo, a drag queen known as Momma Ashley Rose who runs the LGBTQ+ community center.
DeShazo is a family-friendly drag performer and has long hosted drag story times to promote literacy. He uses puppets to address themes of being kind, dealing with bullies and giving back to the community.
DeShazo said he hopes to provide a safe space for events, support groups and health clinics, and to build a library of banned books.
“I don’t think a person of color should have to search so hard for an amazing book about history of what our black community has gone through,” he said. “Or for someone who is queer to find a book that represents them.”
Robbins’ favorite books to send are youth adult queer romances, a rapidly growing genre as conversations about LGBTQ+ issues have become much more mainstream than a decade ago.
“The characters are just like regular kids — regular people who are also queer, but they also get to fall in love and be happy,” Robbins said.
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