SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Lisa Bunker is a nonbinary person and writes children's books with a focus on people in LGBT+ communities. Bunker explains that they write books for a good cause.
"Books saved my life, and I wanted to pay that forward," Bunker said. "I wanted to write the books that I wish I could've found when I was a young unexpressed trans girl growing up."
Bunker has written several children's books, like Zenobia July. It's about a transgender girl starting a new life. While in middle school, Zenobia July presents her true gender for the first time, discovers new friends, and fights hateful memes on her school's website and other cyber crimes.
When it comes to books, Bunker explains that representation matters for all, especially the LGBT+ youth.
"There are young readers looking for those books," Bunker said. "They want to see themselves in a story, so that they know they have a right to exist."
Bunker has faced challenges, like schools in Texas and Florida banning the book, Zenobia July. For Bunker, book bans are very disappointing.
"When I find out that one of my books has been banned, I just feel sad for our country," Bunker said.
According to the American Library Association (ALA), there were 695 attempts to censor library materials and services nationwide between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31. Nearly 4,000 book titles were targeted for censorship too. Most of the books were written by people of color or people in LGBT+ communities.
“These attacks on our freedom to read should trouble every person who values liberty and our constitutional rights,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “To allow a group of people or any individual, no matter how powerful or loud, to become the decision-maker about what books we can read or whether libraries exist, is to place all of our rights and liberties in jeopardy.”
The ALA says the majority of book ban attempts happen in Texas, with 30 attempts to restrict access to books and 1,120 book title challenges between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31. In California, there were 38 attempts to ban or restrict books and 78 book titles challenged.
The ALA goes on to explain that, in 2022, nearly 51% of the demands to censor books targeted books, programs, displays and other materials in school libraries and schools. 48% of book challenges targeted materials in public libraries. Most of the book ban attempts come from parents who want to remove or restrict access to a book their child was reading.
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The Sacramento Public Library works to educate the public, saying everyone should be able to choose for themselves and their families what they read.
"It is not our responsibility to restrict or to limit what people check out, that really is the parent's responsibility," said Peter Coyl, director of Sacramento Public Library. "The purpose of these books are really about people sharing their experiences and letting our community have access and learn from those expereinces."
Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) introduced Assembly Bill 1078, saying it ends book bans and textbook censorship in schools across California.
He explains that the bill is designed to allow the state to intervene when local school districts are deciding to ban books or curriculum based upon a person's protected class, like race, sexuality and religion. Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed the bill into law, going into effect immediately due to the bill's urgency clause.
"It is the responsibility of every generation to continue the fight for civil and human rights against those who seek to take them away. California has met this historical imperative, and we will be ready to meet the next one,” Jackson said.
Even though AB 1078 is now law in California, not all lawmakers agree with the legislation. That includes Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks). He said that the decisions belong at the local level.
"I am opposed to banning books, but in the context of this legislation, one person's age appropriate filtering of books available in classrooms is unfortunately another person's book banning," Niello said.
Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) agrees. He voted against AB 1078 too, saying "parents have the right to parent their kids."
"The big question we're facing is who gets to raise children in our state?," Essayli said. "Is it parents or is it the school? Leaders in California think they know what's best and they're going to teach your kids what they want to teach them. And it doesn't matter if you want them to learn it or not. I think it's very dangerous."
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