With the growing political polarisation, conservative leaders have taken a close and biased policing of book titles about race, gender and sexuality.
Amanda Gorman wrote a poem for Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 named The Hill We climb. This year, the poem has been placed on a restricted list Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes. Daily Salinas, the parent who objected to the poem, deemed it inappropriate and rejected claims of “eliminating and censoring books”.
Gorman took to her social media to share her disheartenment, “I’m gutted,” she writes, “Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.”
Book bans have increased in Florida, where Republican Ron DeSantis has championed policies that allow books to be censored, leading to a national rebuttal. Many believe that this is unjust, and an aim to silence voices who have worked hard to be heard. Gorman acknowledges this and she shares with her supporters, “And let’s be clear: most of the forbidden works are by authors who have struggled for generations to get on the bookshelves. The majority of these censored words are by queer and non-white voices.”
The move to censor published work has begun with non-binary artist Maia Kobabe’s memoir; Gender Queer, the review is being brought to The Australian Classification board to censor by Conservative activist Bernard Gaynor, who initiated the review. If successful, the book could display a sticker warning, risk ban for certain age groups or a ban altogether.
Gender Queer caused quite the controversary, ruffling so many conservative feathers that it was banned in the US in 41 districts. Some schools removed the book without ever receiving a complaint, labelling its illustrations, ‘gay porn’.
In 2021, book bans soared, and Gender Queer became the most challenged book in the United States, according to The American Library Association and the free speech organisation PEN.
The memoir speaks to a personal coming of age and coming to terms with your sexuality and identity. It does not encourage perversion, crime or hatred. But rather speaks its truth; Maia Kobabe’s truth. It is not the responsibility of minority groups or LGBTQIA+ groups to refrain from sharing their story because it poses discomfort and unfamiliarity to others.
The challenging of book titles in recent light are by or about Black and LGBTQIA+ people. “’Gender Queer’ ends up at the center of this because it is a graphic novel, and because it is dealing with sexuality at the time when that’s become taboo,” said Jonathan Friedman, the Director of free expression and education at PEN America. “There’s definitely an element of anti LGBTQIA+ backlash.”
It has been amplified that the root to the ‘supervision’ and ‘monitoring’ of books is parental choice and concern for age appropriation. But this framing does not take away from the reality that with the growing political polarisation, conservative leaders have taken a close and biased policing of book titles about race, gender and sexuality. And if Australia moves to censor Gender Queer, we are too joining forces in a conservative movement to silence and control the voices of our peers; weaponising our freedom of speech and thought and advocating to our children that this is not a powerful tool and their right.
With librarians resigning due to harassment, residents requesting the defunding of libraries, and the failed attempt of politicians to sue Gender Queer publishers for ‘obscenity’, 1597 challenges were made against individual books.
Gender Queer won an American Library Association Alex Award for books “written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12-18”. It is a memoir about being born and brought up as a girl but becoming bewildered about sexual identity and eventually refusing to conform to a gender.
Avoiding topics and conversations such as gender identity and sexuality because it is awkward or uncomfortable is primitive and reactionary. Maybe the most open-minded attitude to have is to allow young adults and teens the right to form their own thoughts and opinions on their literature of choice.
Exclusive: Amer Saleh (PEN Perth intern) wrote a moving personal essay titled ‘My Parents Are My Refuge’ for World Refugee Day (20JUNE, 2023). Thank you Amer Saleh for your fantastic contribution both to this newsletter and behind the scenes during your internship with PEN Perth.
My parents are my refuge.
I was born in Baghdad, Iraq. My parents and I came to London when I were two. My mother is Syrian, and my father is Palestinian. Before Iraq, they lived in Syria.
I have never seen any pictures of the places my parents grew up. I have only heard of its beauty; its acceptance; its peace. But when Bashar al-Assad became president, succeeding his father Hafez, Syria was no longer a home we could ever visit again.
My parents’ resilience, strength and faith have become integral pillars instilled in the woman I am today.
I grew up knowing my family was different. My mother’s beauty was always prompting;
‘Where are you from?’,
‘How long have you been here?’,
‘How do you pronounce your name?’
My father’s accent meant that he repeated himself a lot.
But my parents were smart. The had lives, degrees, and skills before them. They were running for their lives, not from their lives.
My father worked two jobs for most of my childhood and adolescence. He would work at a laundromat during the day and then would drive to Knightsbridge where he was a waiter. He was up early hours in the morning and came back at early hours of the following day.
He had Sundays off and would religiously take my brother and I into town.
He never had a sick day, and he never slept in. Sundays were my favourite days.
My mother was the brains of the house. She knew the answer to everything. While that quickly became annoying, she never got tired of saying ‘I told you so’. She was the epitome of wisdom. It was like she had lived many lives before. I suppose she had.
There was never anything I couldn’t go to her for. Maths, fashion, friends. No one knew how to solve algebra better than she did, no one had a better collection of never-before-seen-in-the-western-world-of-fashion than her, and no one knew people better than she did.
My parents are my refuge.
As I got older, I found I had a much more belligerent attitude towards strangers. People rolled their eyes often, shook their heads, over-pronounced words, muttered rotten things under their breath.
But my parents always reminded me that we were deserving of everything we had. That we had rights; to a home, to a country, to a future.
They never failed to stand up for themselves, and my mother in particular always had the last word. Those ignorant racists never stood a chance.
At times it often felt like it was us against the world. But my parents were my refuge, so the rest of the world didn’t matter.
My father taught me work ethic. He taught me that its OK to start from scratch. Back home my father was a respected man. He was the boss. My mum likes to re-tell this tale often. Almost as evidence of who my father used to be. As if I didn’t see my father as anything other than superman. But he was better. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to put your ego to the side and start again. To have all those years of investing in becoming the man you’ve always dreamt of, simply ceasing to exist. To spend the next couple years proving to everyone who you are; reminding yourself who you used to be. I’m not sure as a father you have a choice, you have to provide. And my father never let me feel like there wasn’t anything I couldn’t have. He spoilt me. But duty is hard. My father made it look so easy.
My mother taught me to be self-sufficient, self-soothing and selfish. She always remined me that I couldn’t trust anyone. I know that for her this was true. She reminded me family was above everything. That it was all we had; each other. My mother’s love is the closest thing I have to God. There is something magical about our bond. In every moment, dark or light, difficult or easy, my mother has shown me the meaning of unconditional love.
She lost her home, her father, survived cervical cancer, endured two open-heart surgeries.
My mother is the strongest person I know. I’m not sure angels are meant to roam through the trenches down here with the rest of us. She certainly does not. But it’s a miracle to know her, and a privilege to have her as my mom.
My parents are my refuge.
I am proud of who we are, where we come from, our story. I am proud of our scars, our battles, our bloodline. Our perseverance, our integrity and our hardships. In the midst of burning flames, my parents have walked out unscathed, undefeated and most importantly, undivided.
UN drops stay-home orders for Afghan staff over Taliban women ban, Published 10 May 2023, ‘The New Humanitarian
In December 2022, the Taliban had already banned afghan women from working for NGOs and as of recently, they have banned afghan women from working for the global body and the UNs response was to ask all afghan staff not to report to their offices. These bans are supporting the same message from the Taliban that they propose and will continue to propose restrictions on education, freedom of movement and now employment. They are progressively stripping Afghan women of their rights since their resumption of power in August 2021.
The arrest of long-time activist Matiullah Wesa was unlikely and unfair (more info here)
For over a decade, Matiullah Wesa traveled across Afghanistan with a mobile school and library, trying to improve access to education for children in remote areas. He is a founder of a respected education organisation, was avowedly apolitical and his work was more of a public shaming of the former Islamic republic and its western funders than critical of the Taliban. He was arrested on the 27 march after he completed Ramadan prayers at a Kabul mosque. Information on his whereabouts, his charges or conditions are scarce if not non-existent. Many activists fear that he could face abuse, torture, coerced into signing a false confession or simply be silenced during his arrest.
Sami, a university student in the southern province of Kandahar says, ‘everyone knew his only intention was the advancement of education and the betterment of our youth.’
His work dates back to years, far predated the Taliban’s return to power. Although his work related to Girls’ education and being the founder of afghan girls’ school project and prominent girls’ education activist could be the relation to his arrest and the Taliban’s repression of women the reason for his arrest entirely.
Why Somalia is one of the hardest places in the world to be a journalist, The New Humanitarian
Somalia is the most hazardous places in Africa to work as a media professional. Bombing and gun attacks by the jihadist group al-Shabab have killed many journalists over the years. The government monitor media and restric free press with arrests and shut-downs of media houses. Due to their corruption, a total of 84 journalists were detained in 2022.
The international aid agencies control access to humanitarian information and they choose and strategically frame the issues they want covered in a country were millions of Somalis are dependent on relief.
Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, a secretary-general of the SJS (Somali Journalists Syndicate) was detained on 11 October 2022 at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu on his way to board his flight to Kenya to visit family.
He was taken to a notorious underground detention centre that was shut down in 2018 amid allegations of abuse but has since re-opened. He was interrogated for eight hours and 1am they locked him in a tiny concrete cell with no lighting or ventilation. He had not eaten or taken anything to drink and was seriously dehydrated.
“I heard harrowing cases from some of the prisoners about their use of electrocution, hooding, and severe beatings as interrogation techniques.”
The individuals in the detention ranged from ages 14 above. Most were from minorirty groups and economically and politically marginalised by the major clans. This makes them vulnerable to detention, extortion, and rape.
“Women detainees held in a next-door cell whispered about the rapes thye had experienced and passed me written notes with contact details of their families.”
He was then taken to another detention facility run by the police and they held him for 11 more days.
The office of the attorney general brought 3 charges against him including an accusation of “bringing the nation into contempt”. The charges are derived from a colonial-era penal code that is routinely used ot detain and prosecute journalists. He was told to make a deal. They would allow me to leave the country if I agreed to stop criticising the government and made a full apology. I declined. He was charged, then released with a travel restriction, faced a trial and was sentenced to 2 months injail. He was released and re arrested. After 33 days, he was released again.
penperth.com 