Barack Obama, the former president, reportedly complimented librarians on Monday for encouraging children to read books with LGBT themes despite the novels’ sexually explicit material.
Obama denounced “book bans” that have been implemented in American school libraries as a consequence of parents’ complaints that their kids were exposed to sexually explicit material.
The former president asserted that several publications that “shaped his life” are being outlawed in an effort to harm the LGBTQ community, native Americans, and racial minorities.
“Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. It’s no coincident that these ‘banned books’ are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community—though there have been unfortunate instances in which books by conservative authors or book containing ‘triggering’ words or scenes have been targets of removal. Either way, the impulse seems to be to silence, rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don’t fit our own.” Obama said.
Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. And librarians are on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and… pic.twitter.com/txhCTfH3Gh
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 17, 2023
Then, he asserted that it is “ironically” Christians who are pushing for the prohibition of sexually explicit literature, and he continued by saying that individuals who do not understand the crucial role that libraries play in society are “attacking” librarians.
Following complaints from worried parents, sexually graphic books have been noticeably barred from school libraries in Florida and Virginia.
At a news conference on March 8, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis read violent passages from books that had previously been on display in Florida school libraries.
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