Two NJ Libraries Remove a Gay-Themed Book

The Burlington County library and Rancocas Valley Regional High School’s library have both pulled the gay themed collection, Revolutionary Voices, from the shelves. The county library director Gail Sweet cited “child pornography” as the reason behind the removal.

The YA-work in question is a collection of short stories written by “multicultural queer youth.” The anthology features an introduction by Amy Sonnie, who edited the work, and a prose poem by Jason Roe. The book inspired the group, Resources for Youth, Students, and Trainers. In 2000, it was a finalist for the prestigious Lambda Literary Award.

The Courier Post spoke with ACLU-NJ deputy legal director Jeanne LoCicero and had this summary: “Revolutionary Voices had faced no official challenge at the library and the library’s commissioners had not voted on its removal, according to information in Sweet’s e-mails.”

The American Library Association will celebrate banned book week from September 25th to October 2nd. Last year, the organization behind the celebration produced an interactive map to let it be known that book banning is a national problem. Some popular banned book titles include J.D. Salinger‘s Catcher in the Rye and J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series.

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