Thread by @jonfreadom

You may be surprised to learn that books by @MargaretAtwood @jodipicoult @judyblume @kellyyanghk @johngreen are being determined to have "no serious literary value for minors" in Utah schools.

Latest crop of 44 banned books hinges on that assessment 🧵
stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2…

Yes, under Utah's new "sensitive materials" law, librarians are being pressured to ban books that include any of a wide range of sexual content, if -- and, this is key -- if the district determines a book has "no serious value for minors."

Here's the list of 44 being banned in Washington County. Many are widely recognized, popular, award-winning literary works. They're being determined to have "no serious value for minors" to appease the vocal activists who want books w/ sex of any kind banned.

To be clear: they're saying The Bluest Eye, The Handmaid's Tale, Forever, Push, Lookin for Alaska -- 44 books -- have absolutely no literary or artistic value for anyone under 18. They're applying a law that aims to bar "indecent or pornographic material" from schools.

Here's the law. Under ordinary circumstances, books in libraries, used on AP exams, major award-winners and nominees, would be seen to have "serious value."

But the law, and the political climate in UT, is leading districts to alter that for books w/ sex that anyone objects to.

Washington County follows Alpine district, which banned 22 books under the same law last month. Other districts are also receiving challenges and being pressured to make similar determinations. kuer.org/education/2022…

UT is just one state in what is quickly becoming a national effort to equate any kind of sex in books as "porn", to suppress their availability to young people. Some want to stretch the definition to apply to any and all LGBTQ books, especially. This is censorship. #FreeTheBooks