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An undated stock photo shows a girl selecting a book in a school library. (Przemek Klos / Shutterstock)

Fact Check: Dems Attack Conservatives for 'Banning' Books - Here's the Truth

 By Johnathan Jones  November 24, 2023 at 1:29pm
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Far-left LGBT and gender activists, Democratic Party lawmakers and much of the liberal media have spent recent years claiming the removal of certain books from public school classrooms and libraries equates to Nazi Germany’s book burnings.

The removal of this literature from schools has become such a hot-button issue that there is a national narrative that an all-out assault on reading is underway. On any given news day, a casual reader might come across a headline claiming not only that these so-called bans are taking place but also that there exists a virtuous group of people who are out to stop them.

Conservatives are naturally being blamed as the morally bankrupt left portrays the battle over what should and should not be taught in classrooms as an issue of censorship and indoctrination by the right.

It is generally omitted that many of these “banned” books are so graphic in nature that concerned parents have been asked to stop reading from them during school board meetings on account of their perversity and vulgarity.

Here is one example of a parent being asked by school administrators to cease reading from a book that is available to children but was deemed inappropriate at a forum for adults:

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WARNING: The following video contains vulgar and blasphemous language that some viewers will find offensive.



Florida has taken a hardline stance against allowing such filth in classrooms. Other states that are also led by Republicans have taken major steps as of late to prevent small children from being exposed to depravity in literature.

But is a “book ban” in place anywhere in America?

Let’s take a look at not only the question but also the people who are making the claims, the books that are being “banned” and what exactly is in some of these books.

The Left Claims Conservatives Are Engaging in a Draconian Campaign of Censorship

Just this past week, pop music singer Pink was celebrated by much of the liberal media after she pledged to pass out books that are not permitted in elementary school classrooms in Florida during her concerts in the state.

People magazine glowingly reported on the stunt with the headline, “Pink to Give Away 2,000 Banned Books About Race and Sexuality at Upcoming Florida Tour Stops.”

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The left-leaning celebrity and gossip outlet conveniently left out that one of the singer’s own posts was hit with Community Notes on X for pushing false information about what is and is not allowed to be taught in Florida’s classrooms.

Some of the books Pink claimed were banned in Florida are actually recommended by the state in its Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking Standards for English Language Arts.

Pink’s false claims can be attributed to either ignorance about the issue or a marketing tactic to sell tickets.

But pushing the falsehood that books are being “banned” left and right is not isolated to singers.

The “book ban” lie has been pushed by everyone from President Joe Biden to LeVar Burton — who helped raise a generation of millennials with his PBS show “Reading Rainbow.”

Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, who is running for governor in her state, made the issue of “banned” books a part of her campaign rollout last week.

Days later, Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore posted on the social media platform X that “book bans” were “threats to education.”

A simple search of X posts yields seemingly unlimited results of claims of “book bans” on the platform that are unchallenged and widely shared:

In February, Business Insider not only claimed that conservatives are outright banning books but also jumped to the conclusion that the party would face a reckoning over the issue with voters in 2024.

“State GOP leaders have enacted laws or pushed for banning children from accessing certain books in school classrooms and libraries, and polling shows banning books is popular among Republicans,” the outlet reported. “But the issue could come back to haunt the GOP in the 2024 general election, with book bans remain unpopular with the general electorate.”

Claims That Republican Lawmakers Are ‘Banning’ Books Are Pure Fiction

While conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups such as Moms for Liberty are the tip of the spear in regard to protecting children by monitoring what ends up in their classrooms and on school library shelves, claims that any kind of “ban” is ongoing are patently false.

There is no ban on any literature anywhere in the United States, as banning literature would violate the First Amendment.

Conservatives are simply protecting children from perverse agendas or political themes that their minds cannot yet understand. Those are themes they can and most likely will discuss once they reach adulthood.

Florida’s schools have been on the frontline in the battle against deviancy in literature.

This year, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis debunked the narrative that he and others in the state were “banning books.”

“Exposing the ‘book ban’ hoax is important because it reveals that some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination,” the GOP presidential candidate said in a statement in March.

“In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards,” he said. “Florida is the education state and that means providing students with a quality education free from sexualization and harmful materials that are not age appropriate.”

DeSantis listed four books that would not be permitted in Florida’s classrooms:

• “Gender Queer: A Memoir”
• “Flamer”
• “This Book Is Gay”
• “Let’s Talk About It”

The books contain explicit language, descriptions of sex acts and some alarming descriptions of fetishes that are apparently popular in much of the LGBT community.

For example, “This Book Is Gay” explains to children that there are some people who engage in an act called “scatting,” which Urban Dictionary defines as a “sexual act entailing defecating onto the face of one’s partner.”

Karol Markowicz, a columnist for the New York Post, shared a glossary from the book in which it explains that some people consume feces during sex.

The Left’s Book ‘Ban’ Narrative Debunked

“This Book Is Gay” is not banned anywhere in the country.

In fact, the book by Juno Dawson is selling on Amazon and many other online retailers. Each of the other books cited by DeSantis is also available to purchase — as are other titles from common lists of supposedly “banned” books.

Should books like these be allowed in school libraries?

The simple fact is that many adults with sound morals tend to agree that these books are for older audiences.

Tayler Hansen with TENET Media recently asked people who said they were broadly against “book bans” to read from some of the books that are being pushed onto children.

After viewing the materials for themselves, a number of people concluded they were inappropriate for classrooms.

Amid the country’s ongoing culture wars, DeSantis and other prominent Republicans have thoroughly disproved the claims that conservatives are banning literature as part of a broad campaign to brainwash children.

What has happened is that in states where parents have classroom rights, the adults they have elected to represent them have chosen to ensure their children are only exposed to age-appropriate materials at school.

Books that the left has claimed are “banned” are available for sale online and in stores. Parents who choose to push such vile literature onto their children have every legal right to do so in their private time.

But the narrative that conservatives are on a nationwide crusade against reading is simply untrue and can be more accurately described as an attempt to spin the truth – which is that conservatives have become an effective firewall against an agenda that seeks to poison the minds of children.

FACT CHECK: Are conservatives coordinating to ban books in an effort to indoctrinate children and suppress free speech?

CONCLUSION: False.

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Johnathan Jones
Staff Writer
Johnathan Jones has worked as a reporter, an editor, and producer in radio, television and digital media.
Johnathan "Kipp" Jones has worked as an editor and producer in radio and television. He is a proud husband and father.




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