The radical left insists that LGBT grooming is a conspiracy theory propagated by the far right. Of course, the evidence is overwhelming, and we’ve been reporting on it enough that there’s no excuse for dismissing it as a conspiracy theory. But for reasons that cannot be explained, the radical left is deliberately misleading the public on this issue, particularly when it comes to the subject of “banning books.”
For starters, no one is actually banning books. Whether it’s in Florida or another red state, efforts to restrict content available to kids have nothing to do with banning books. Content containing sexually explicit material, including graphic depictions of sex acts between adults and children, has no business in public schools or libraries, and yet leftists and gender activists are actively conflating pornography and literature in order to make conservatives look like book burners.
Former President Barack Obama jumped into the fray this week, insisting that books by gay and transgender authors shaped his life, in an indirect appeal against the “banning” of pornographic materials
Related: If ‘Banned’ Books Are Harmless, Joe Biden Should Read Them to Kids
“In any democracy, the free exchange of ideas is an important part of making sure that citizens are informed, engaged and feel like their perspectives matter,” Obama wrote Monday in a letter to the “dedicated and hardworking librarians of America. “It’s so important, in fact, that here in America, the First Amendment of our Constitution states that freedom begins with our capacity to share and access ideas – even, and maybe especially, the ones we disagree with.”
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
One of the authors Obama cited as having taught him “something essential about our country’s character” was Mark Twain. Ironically, Twain’s work is targeted — mostly by the left — over its depiction of slavery and historically accurate use of racial slurs.
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 coincidence that these “banned books” are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community — though there have also been unfortunate instances in which books by conservative authors or books containing “triggering” words or scenes have been targets for 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.
This argument is absurd. The books that are being challenged in public and school libraries are not classic works of literature that have been loved for generations, including in Barack Obama’s formative years. They’re books like “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human (A Graphic Novel),” which features graphic depictions of “women” with penises and “men” with vaginas. It also contains illustrations of sex acts and instructions for sex toys. Other books that are commonly challenged these days, like “Lawn Boy” and the graphic novel “Gender Queer,” feature scenes depicting young children engaging in oral sex, rape, and incest.
Related: UNREAL Excerpts From Pornographic LGBTQ+++™ Teen Propaganda Book (NSFW)
Now, these books may not be old enough to have shaped Barack Obama’s life. But when people like Obama push back against the efforts to remove these books from schools by conflating them with otherwise innocuous works of literature, they are actively defending these books and advocating that young children have access to them so they can “shape their lives.”
There was once a time when parents, regardless of politics, wanted to protect the innocence of children. Those days are long gone, and that’s why the fight to protect children is more important than ever.
