AUSTIN — On Thursday, PFLAG hosted the session Beyond Bans: Defending LGBTQ+ Stories & Literary Freedom at SXSW EDU. The event tackled the challenges and solutions to targeted censorship toward queer books, learning and the like. The panel was moderated by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones (she/her), creator of The 1619 Project. She was joined by New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston (they/them); American Library Association President Sam Helmick (they/them); and PFLAG National CEO Brian K. Bond (he/him).
The March 11 panel took place on the 53rd anniversary of PFLAG’s first meeting, highlighting the decades of experience PFLAG members and supporters have working to make schools and education systems inclusive of LGBTQ+ people and histories.
The topic of book bans and censorship comes at a timely moment as Congress introduced a sweeping federal book and inclusive education ban, H.R. 7661 on Feb. 24. The bill seeks to modify the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by eliminating funding for schools that keep books by and about transgender people in the classroom, teach histories or literature published after 1990, and provide arts and extracurricular programming that align with current events and 21st century student needs.
“We will collectively get through this. We’ve seen this show before. I’m a person living with HIV. I saw tons of people – friends – die. We came back as a stronger community. It’s our time to step up, those who are able to do so, right now,” Bond said at the panel.
Panelists discussed the need for advocates to contact their representative in Congress to protect the freedom to read. They also called for people to stay active by attending school and library board meetings, championing their representatives to protect the freedom to read, and keeping up with resources like PEN America, Unite Against Book Bans, and PFLAG National’s Fighting for Our Pride campaign to know which books, authors, and communities need support and how to help.
“Access to information has always been access to opportunity. And if this is the land of opportunity, then libraries can’t just be an opinion. They have to be a value that we invest in with robust policy that supports library workers, our teachers, our students, our public,” Sam Helmick, (they/them), President of the American Library Association stated.
PFLAG’ s presence at SXSW EDU is part of the organization’s Fighting for Our Pride campaign, which helps educate and activate families and allies to advocate for LGBTQ+ people.
Watch the livestream of the panel below:
–Rich Lopez