Heartstopper author Alice Oseman has called out the “thriving” homophobia, transphobia and racism across the world in response to a number of LGBTQ+ novels being banned in the Clay County school district in Florida. More than 50 books were banned in the Florida county, including the author’s own graphic novel series, prompting her to slam the decision on social media.
Posting on her Instagram story to her 1.7m followers, Oseman uploaded a screenshot of a tweet from the Florida Freedom to Read Project confirming that the total number of banned books in Clay County is 355. The author captioned the screenshot, calling out the increasing number of prohibited novels.
Remember that school district DeSantis spoke about freedom at yesterday (@oneclayschools)? Well, they just added another 50+ books to their list of removed books that are out until they complete the challenge, review and appeal process. The total now is 355 since July 1, 2022.
“Heartstopper and Radio Silence [another LGBTQ+ novel by Oseman] have been banned in a Florida school district – and they’re just a few of hundreds of books being banned in schools and libraries in the US,” they wrote. “They are almost always being banned due to being inclusive of LGBTQ+ people and people of color.”
She went on to describe that the implementation of these discriminative acts was being made out of false concern for the welfare of children, using them as an excuse to perpetuate conservative values. In a second post, Oseman focused on the reasoning behind these decisions.
“Racism, homophobia, and transphobia are thriving under the guise of ‘concern for children’,” she wrote, also slamming the anti-LGBTQ+ stigma in the UK. “This is not just a US issue either. We’re seeing the exact same ‘concern’ here in the UK.”
These bans follow Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill, which seeks to ban gender and sexuality-based content and discussions at schools. In an act similar to Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28, and in deliberately vague terms, it was decreed that teachers are prohibited from encouraging “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels”. The continued ban of novels like Heartstopper are evidence of the act being used to censor queer voices, prompting protest from the LGBTQ+ community.
Alice Oseman recently became a BAFTA nominee for the TV adaptation of their record-breaking graphic novel series. The debut series of Heartstopper, which aired in 2022, became one of Netflix’s most critically acclaimed shows, with a rare 100% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes!!
