Posted in: Comics, Oni Press | Tagged: cbldf, gender queer, graphic novel, Maia Kobabe

Another Week In The Life Of Graphic Novel, Gender Queer

Last week, Bleeding Cool ran the article, A Week In The Life Of Banned Graphic Novel, Gender Queer. Well, it has been quite a week since then, and it's not even Banned Books Week yet. As Gender Queer: A Graphic Memoir by Maia Kobabe is about to become even well known just as a new edition of Gender Queer is coming out from Oni Press.

The American Library Association, states there were 729 challenges last year and over 1,500 books were targeted, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling lists 20 years ago. Gender Queer tops that list, and they have only just started.

The American Principles Project, a national conservative group vowing to spend millions of dollars targeting LGBTQ issues in state races across the USA is highlighting excerpts from the graphic novel to kick off the race to be Governor of Maine. The Bangor Daily News reports that Maine voters received SMS messages telling them that the current Democrat Governor Janet Mills "put this disgusting content in Maine schools" with a link to a APP/Maine Families First YouTube ad, which highlights scenes from the graphic novel stating "this is the kind of literature Janet Mills wants your kids exposed to," the ad said. And Maine Families First is applying become a political action committee with the state ethics commission. The APP also is part of another group opposing same-sex marriage and aiming to shield the identity of its donors.

And that an almost identical ad is circulating in Michigan, making the same claims about Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer, highlighting the same passages from the same book. And part of what the APP recently described on Twitter as a multi-million-dollar effort to "hold Democrats accountable for grooming our kids." They have already spent $100,000 on text messages and the American Principles Project has said that it plans to spend roughly $10 million in several states.

But the kids are pushing back. A student group at Fort Bend Independent School District in Sugar Land, Texas is launching a book club in response to the "senseless book bans and invasion of student privacy." The book club is for current and former students in the Houston-area school districts and the first book will be Gender Queer. There will be an info session on Zoom at 1pm this Saturday, Central Time.

WTOV's Fact Check team highlight Florida high school teacher Adam Tritt who has started Foundation 451 including a free mobile library made up of books being challenged or banned. Moms for Liberty equates that as putting pornography in children's hands, accuses him of harming children and specifically calls out "Gender Queer". As well as the Brooklyn Library, which gives teens free access to banned books online through a project they call Books Unbanned. A teacher in Oklahoma gave out the Books Unbanned QR code to her students, quit her job after the backlash and now, the education secretary wants to revoke her teacher's certificate.

The Courier Gazette reports that a regional RSU 40 school board will do the remarkable thing of actually reading the book first before deciding whether to keep it in the Medomak Valley High School library in Waldoboro, Maine or to remove it as a resident requested. The matter will be devoted on the 20th of October.

While the CBLDF will be running a couple of webinars next week regarding this topic too.

Gender Queer in Virginia Beach: A Case Study –  Monday, September 19th noon EST. Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir achieved resounding victory in the Virginia courts. Join CBLDF for an inside look at the case from Maia's legal representation in Virginia Beach, Jeff Trexler and Steven Emmert. Learn the roots of the case, its progression through the legal system, and why the case was dismissed. This event is a great chance to learn about the legal process of defending books from censorship and how CBLDF can help protect our freedoms.

The Censorship of LGBTQ+ Comic Books with Maia Kobabe and Mike Curato – Thursday, September 22nd 5pm EST. Comic books have been targeted by censors for decades, from 1954 Senate subcommittee hearings about their alleged link to juvenile delinquency, to the implementation of a content code that nearly destroyed the industry, to today's widespread attacks on comics, especially those that share the stories of LGBTQ+ individuals. Join the creators of two of today's most acclaimed and frequently censored graphic novels — Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer) and Mike Curato (Flamer) — for a conversation about the attempts to censor their work and LGBTQ+ stories. Greg Rokisky, Social Media and Digital Content Manager at PFLAG National, and Jordan Smith, Digital Editor at Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, will lead the conversation.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!