The 2021-2023 surge in book banning/challenging in U.S. schools and libraries represented the most aggressive censorship campaign since the 1980s Satanic Panic. Conservative parent groups—most prominently Moms for Liberty—targeted books featuring LGBTQ+ characters, racial justice themes, and sexual content, particularly in school libraries. The American Library Association documented 2,571 unique title challenges in 2022 (highest since tracking began), with the vast majority targeting books by/about LGBTQ+ people and people of color.
The Targeted Books
Frequent targets included: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (nonbinary memoir with illustrated sexual content), All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (Black queer memoir), The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (rape scene in Nobel laureate’s novel), The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (police brutality), Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, books by Alex Gino, and anything remotely mentioning gender identity or sexuality. Many banned books were YA novels or memoirs where LGBTQ+ youth saw themselves represented, or books helping white students understand racism.
The movement weaponized parental rights language, claiming books “groomed” children or made white students uncomfortable about racism (critical race theory panic overlap). Some challenges succeeded via school board pressure; others failed after librarian, teacher, student, and author advocacy. States passed laws facilitating challenges or criminalizing librarians for providing “obscene” materials, chilling effect leading some librarians to self-censor rather than face legal risk.
The Resistance
Authors, librarians, and free speech advocates fought back. PEN America tracked bans, filed lawsuits, and publicized suppression. Authors visited communities to defend their work. BookTok teens read banned books in protest. Publishers created banned book reading lists. The paradox: many banned books saw sales surges, introducing them to readers who’d never heard of them. Gender Queer became bestseller post-banning.
By 2023, the book banning campaign represented broader culture wars over LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice education, and who controls children’s information access. It exposed deep divides in American communities about education, identity, and whether protecting children meant shielding them from difficult realities or equipping them with knowledge and representation.
Related: #BannedBooks #LGBTQBooks #CensorshipDebate #MomsForLiberty #SchoolLibraries