Molly Sprayregen

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Donald Trump will reportedly ban trans people from the military on day one

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Donald Trump is reportedly planning to reinstate his trans military ban through executive order on his first day in office. Reports say the president-elect will not only bar trans people from joining but also that he plans to medically discharge the 15,000 trans personnel who are currently serving.

If carried out this way, the ban will be significantly harsher than the first time he banned trans people from the military in 2017, when trans people already serving were allowed to remain in their positions. Because the military is already experiencing recruitment issues, experts are worried the policy will significantly impair military readiness. 

“These people will be forced out at a time when the military can’t recruit enough people,” an anonymous source told The Times. “Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions.”

“Should a trans ban be implemented from day one of the Trump administration, it would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis,” added Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military Association of America, “not to mention signaling vulnerability to America’s adversaries.”

“Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military’s recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps,” she continued. “There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.”

A trans officer in the U.S. Air Force who also chose to remain anonymous expressed worry about filling highly skilled positions. “There are very few members of my career field with this experience, and in the event of a large-scale contingency, it would be difficult to replace the level of experience that I bring to the table.”

Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump has any concrete plans to ban trans military members. “These unnamed sources are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about. No decisions on this issue have been made. No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople.”

The Obama administration opened up military service to transgender people in 2016, but in 2017, Trump announced a trans military ban via tweet. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” Trump declared.

How the ban would be implemented was unclear, since Trump had given the Pentagon no heads up that his tweet was coming.

The announcement was met with immediate opposition from Democrats and even some Republicans. Even the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who dragged his feet over the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, called it “a step in the wrong direction.” All four service chiefs also signaled their support for transgender service members. 

Federal courts issued injunctions against the ban. By 2018, the administration went back to the drawing board. This time, then-Vice President Mike Pence and anti-transgender activists Ryan Anderson and Tony Perkins helped shape a new approach.

This time around, the revised policy was able to succeed because the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the administration, overturning rulings against the ban from lower courts. As a result, the ban took effect in April 2019. It effectively prohibited trans people from enlisting and put multiple restrictions on trans military personnel who were already serving.

Trump consulted no military experts before announcing the ban. Though he claimed that trans healthcare was too expensive for the military, it was revealed that the military spends $41.6 million annually on the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra, around five to 20 times what it costs to fund trans-related healthcare.

President Joe Biden reversed the ban when he took office in 2021.

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LGBTQ+ young adults are experiencing depression en masse

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A new study has found that LGBTQ+ higher education students are more than three times as likely to have depression than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts.

Published in the Journal of American College Health, the study examined data from almost 500,000 respondents to the annual Healthy Minds Study, which tracked mental health in full-time students ages 18 to 35 from 2007 to 2022.

“Our findings highlight a growing mental health crisis among LGBTQIA+ students that demands immediate attention,” says David Pagliaccio of the New York State Psychiatric Institute. “Academic institutions need to take urgent and proactive steps to address these alarming rises in depression that are affecting the lives of so many young adults, particularly among those who face unique challenges due to their sexual or gender identity.”

The findings not only concluded that LGBTQ+ students are more likely to suffer from depression but also that six times the number of respondents identified as LGBTQ+ in 2022 compared to when the study launched 15 years prior.

The analysis also found that overall depression rates have increased among students but that LGBTQ+ students account for nearly half of those reporting depression despite making up only one-fifth of the group. LGBTQ+ students were also twice as likely to go to therapy but half as likely to go to family members for help.

The results are not surprising considering the hostile anti-LGBTQ+ climate being perpetuated by federal and state lawmakers. The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People (which surveys youth ages 13 to 24) found a “significant association” between poor mental health and anti-LGBTQ+ victimization, including that the mental health of 90% of LGBTQ+ youth has been negatively affected by politics.

Additionally, a study published in September revealed that anti-transgender laws have a direct, causal relationship with youth suicide attempts and that attempted suicide rates increased by as much as 72% following the passage of such laws.

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.

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Has Donald Trump forever desensitized America to cruelty?

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Donald Trump can say and do things that basically no one else on the planet can get away with. For reasons that will be analyzed for years to come, consequences seem to evade him at every turn. Instead, he receives endless rewards for his cruelty. 

Journalist McKay Coppins has identified this as “the most insidious legacy of the Trump era.” In an op-ed for The Atlantic, Coppoins says Trump has “thoroughly desensitized voters to behavior that, in another era, they would have deemed disqualifying in a president.”

“The national bar for outrage keeps rising,” Coppins writes. “The ability to be shocked has dwindled.

Coppins also acknowledges that Donald Trump is far from the first president to abuse power or infuse cynicism into the American people about our leaders. “But when it comes to lowering our collective expectations of presidential behavior, Trump is a singular figure,” he said, to the point where we all get bored reading about the man’s many indiscretions. 

“Trump’s apologists might argue that his success is a symptom, not the cause, of the country’s coarsened character,” Coppins continued, but he pointed out that voters continue to rebuke others who try to act similarly. 

In North Carolina, for example, voters elected Trump but also resoundingly rejected the Republican candidate for governor, Mark Robinson – a Trump-endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ politician who allegedly called himself a “Black Nazi” and a “perv” for adult films featuring transgender actors. 

“In any case,” Coppins continued, “the fact remains that Trump’s brazenness damages the political culture. Every time he crosses a new line, he makes it that much easier for the next guy to do so.”

“Nearly a decade into the Trump era, too many Americans have internalized the idea that expecting our political leaders to be good people is quaint and foolish. But this savvier-than-thou attitude only empowers Trump and his mimics to act with impunity.”

“Is it possible to resensitize an electorate to scandal and cruelty?” Coppins asked. “I don’t know. Maybe we start by trying to remember how we felt when all of this was still new.”

He also reminded us that some people today are too young to even remember Trump’s first time running for president. Some members of Gen Z, for example, have only recently learned about the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about being able to sexually assault women and are utterly shocked. 

So perhaps, Coppins said, “a less cynical age may dawn again.”

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A bomb threat at a drag story hour couldn’t stop a crowd from showing up to spread love

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A Drag Queen Story Hour at the public library in Somerville, Massachusetts was canceled last weekend after someone called in a bomb threat. 

While police had been prepared for anti-LGBTQ+ protesters, they didn’t anticipate a bomb threat, which reportedly came through right as the event was about to begin. As such, officials had to evacuate and sweep the building, the Boston Globe reported. 

The right-wing group Super Happy Fun America — which has thrown “straight pride parades” in the past — appears to have taken credit for the protest, though not the bomb threat. 

“I am thrilled to announce that the Drag Queen Story Hour for Children ages 4-8 event at the Somerville Public Library was CANCELLED!! VICTORY!!” the group’s director of operations Christine H. Doherty reportedly wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to my three Super Happy Fun America sisters and one surprise guest for actually showing up to protest with me.”

Doherty also released a statement denouncing the bomb threat and stating the group was not connected to it in any way.

WCVB described a “handful” of anti-LGBTQ+ protestors compared to the approximately 100 counter-protestors who showed up to support the LGBTQ+ community. 

“Whenever hate arrives in Somerville or Medford or Boston, love and joy always come out 10-fold to kind of drown it out, and that’s what happened here,” counterprotestor Christian Krenek told the network.

Somerville City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen called the protest and subsequent cancellation of the event “completely outrageous.” 

“We can’t let things like this take away our ability to just live our lives and be the people we are,” he told the Boston Globe. “It’s incredibly infuriating for people to go out of their way just to ruin a bunch of families’ Saturday.”

Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne. also condemned the anti-LGBTQ+ protestors in a statement to WCVB: “Hate has no place here in Somerville. When any one of us is hurt, we’re all hurt, so it’s just not acceptable.”

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LGBTQ+ Chicagoans outraged as city imposes new limits on this year’s Pride parade

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Chicago officials going to reduce the scale of this year’s Pride Parade even more after already announcing an approximately 37% reduction in floats and performances. 

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) recently revealed a proposal to reduce the length of the parade by a few blocks, which would eliminate the need for 48 officer posts, Block Club Chicago reported. The possibility has angered many in the LGBTQ+ community. 

“We were obviously not thrilled to hear that,” said Jin-Soo Huh, chair of the LGBTQ+ advisory council to the mayor. “Even though it is only a proposal, our message is that this is a proposal that should have been done in consultation with the community. We’re still calling on the Mayor’s Office to restore the Pride Parade [to its original form].” 

Huh said he had not even been told about the reduced number of entries allowed in the parade and had to learn about it from a Block Club report. 

“That really caught us off guard,” he said. “As the mayor’s council, we hope that anything major like this affecting the LGBTQ+ community is brought to our attention and that we’re consulted about it. That’s our main function.”

The Chicago Pride Parade is one of the largest in the country. The changes—including an 11 a.m. start time instead of the usual noon—are reportedly due to city officials’ increased efforts to maintain safety and manage overall logistics. It is not known whether the changes are related to an increased need for security based on the current rise in attacks on LGBTQ+ rights across the country. 

Regardless of the reasons, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) LGBTQ+ Advisory Council continues to fight to maintain the parade’s original integrity. Last week–before CPD’s proposal to shorten the route was announced–14 of 20 members signed on to an open letter asking the city to lift the 125-entry cap. 

“The city of Chicago and the state of Illinois have made great strides to advance the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people,” the council members said. “We urge the city of Chicago to work towards having the largest, most visible, and most powerful Pride Parade in the country, especially at a time when LGBTQ+ communities, and in particular trans youth, are facing unprecedented and life-threatening attacks.”

“We ask the mayor and the city of Chicago to lean into their values of equity and transparency and work with the parade organizers, the advisory council and the supporting organizations to restore the Pride Parade and support the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago and beyond.”

However, according to the Windy City Times, the groups support the 11 a.m. start time, which is needed to better accommodate CPD shift changes. 

The letter also advocated for other parades held in the city throughout the year, asking officials to engage the community in any decision relating to changes to these beloved traditions. Several local organizations, in addition to the council members, signed on to the letter, including Equality Illinois, Brave Space Alliance, Pride Action Tank, Howard Brown Health, and the parade organizers.

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14 states sue the Biden administration for the right to discriminate against trans kids

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More states have announced lawsuits against the Biden administration over its new Title IX rules mandating anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students, bringing the total number of states suing the administration to 14.

Last week, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia filed a joint lawsuit against the administration, along with the Independent Women’s Network, Parents Defending Education, Speech First, and the Independent Women’s Law Center. In a separate lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) also announced a challenge to the new rules.

Now the state of Tennessee is leading a lawsuit against the new rules and is joined by Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia in its complaint. A separate lawsuit has also been filed by the attorneys general of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Idaho.

The new rules interpret Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, as a legal protection against anti-LGBTQ+ school policies. The idea is that it’s impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity without taking sex into account, a legal argument that the Supreme Court has already used in its 2020 Bostock v. Clayton Co. ruling with respect to job discrimination.

With these rules, any school that receives federal funding will no longer be able to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students. This could affect states and school districts with policies to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents or ban trans students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender. The new rules could also give students who face discrimination recourse in federal courts.

In a press conference, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) invoked the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as justification for his fight to discriminate against trans youth. 

“Title IX has protected women for 50 years,” Skrmetti said, as reported by The Tennessean. “It is a law… built around the idea of men and women, sex binary. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted, enduring differences between the sexes necessitate things like separate bathrooms, separate locker rooms, separate living facilities, separate sports teams. This is something that our law has recognized for decades.”

The rules, however, do not suggest that schools eliminate single-gender spaces. Rather, they simply require schools to include everyone who identifies as a boy in boys’ spaces and everyone who identifies as a girl in girls’ spaces. 

While GOP attorneys general are up in arms about the effect the rules will have on athletics, they do not actually discuss transgender student-athletes and which teams they can play on. The DOE is reportedly planning to issue a separate rule regarding what Title IX means for sports participation.

Skrmetti, however, claimed that with the rules, “a boy can walk into a girl’s locker room at a school and if the girl complains that his presence makes her uncomfortable, she can be brought up for investigation and potential penalties for violating civil rights. The new rules is entirely inconsistent with the text of Title IX and its adoption violates the United States Constitution.”

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) claimed in a press release that the rules will “ultimately prohibit schools from distinguishing between males and females in athletic and educational opportunities” as well as “put women at an unfair disadvantage” and “force boys and girls to share bathrooms, locker rooms, dorms, and even overnight lodging while on a school trip.”

He also said it is designed to “federally coerce schools into indoctrinating students in gender identity theories popular among progressive parents but that ignore science.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) wrote on X that President Joe Biden is “abusing his constitutional authority to push an ideological agenda that harms women and girls and conflicts with the truth.”

“We will not comply,” DeSantis continued, “and we will fight back against Biden’s harmful agenda.”

Conservative parent organizations have also spoken out against the new rules. Fifty-three groups signed a letter led by Parents Defending Education (PDE) claiming trans inclusivity “poses a grave threat to the safety and opportunities of women and girls and thwarts students’ First Amendment rights” by forcing them to use accurate pronouns for trans and nonbinary students even if they don’t want to. 

The letter also accused the Biden administration of pandering to “a small yet vocal group of extreme activists.”

On Monday, out White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she could not speak about the new rule too much due to the all the litigation. “So I’ll just say every student has the right to feel safe in school,” she said.

The new rules are set to take effect on August 1 and invalidate numerous anti-transgender policies developed under former President Donald Trump. The Trump administration spent four years fighting against the legal argument that laws that ban discrimination “based on sex” ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, particularly in schools. In 2017, then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos issued guidance to schools saying that Title IX did not protect LGBTQ+ students, shortly after she and Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked a guidance from the administration of former President Barack Obama that said the opposite. 

The Biden administration had promised to present the newly unveiled rules by January, but the DOE said its release was delayed due to an unprecedented number of over 240,000 comments submitted during the new rules’ 30-day public response period.

In contrast to the conservative backlash, LGBTQ+ organizations have celebrated the announcement, though they also say more is needed. 

In a statement both celebrating and criticizing the newly unveiled rules, the National Women’s Law Center wrote, “As we celebrate this milestone, we recognize that this regulation does not go far enough in making the law’s protections clear for all student-athletes.” The statement was signed by 22 other organizations, including LGBTQ+ advocacy groups like GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG National, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Out gay Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) wrote, “The Education Department and Biden Administration showed real courage today, delivering on a long-held promise to ensure that the federal government does more to protect all Americans—especially LGBTQ Americans—from discrimination. This groundbreaking rule is a major victory, but we still have much to do. We need to enshrine and expand its protections by passing the Equality Act because for too many Americans, their rights and protections depend on the zip code they live in.”

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Dominica’s High Court ends the country’s ban on being gay in historic ruling

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The High Court of Dominica has overturned a colonial-era law banning same-sex relations between consenting adults after a gay man filed a lawsuit claiming the ban was unconstitutional. 

The complainant, who remained anonymous, claimed the law led him “to live in constant fear of criminal sanction for engaging in consensual sexual activity” and caused “hateful and violent conduct towards him and other LGBT persons” that stopped him “from living and expressing himself freely and in dignity,” according to BBC.

The ruling stated that the constitution guarantees that “a person shall not be hundred in the enjoyment of his right to assemble and freely associate with other persons” and that this “must necessarily include the freedom to enter into and maintain intimate relationships without undue intrusion by the State.” 

Written by High Court Judge Kimberly Cenac-Phulgence, it also said that the current law causes “widespread hostility towards persons perceived to be LGBT both in public and private settings” and “cannot be justified as necessary to respect the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest.” 

Activist Daryl Phillip celebrated the ruling, telling BBC it has set the country – which should not be confused with the Dominican Republic – “on a promising path toward restoring people’s dignity and safeguarding LGBTQ people’s rights to privacy, health, and freedom from torture and ill-treatment, aligning with international human rights obligations.” He also acknowledged that the ruling will not make homophobia “stop tomorrow” and that it is “a process.” 

Maria Sjödin, executive director of LGBTQ+ organization Outright International, explained that “Decriminalisation helps create an environment where LGBTQ individuals can live openly without fear of persecution, enabling them to access health care, education, and employment without facing discrimination.”

“The repeal of these discriminatory laws is a testament to the tireless efforts of activists, advocates, and allies who have long fought for justice and equality,” Sjödin continued. “It is a victory for human rights and a significant milestone in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean.” 

The anonymous complainant has spent five years battling for the law to be overturned. Originally established during the British colonial era, the Associated Press says it was strengthened in 1998 and carried a potential ten-year prison sentence.

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Trans man Tee Arnold shot to death outside Florida shopping mall

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A 36-year-old trans man named Tee Arnold died earlier this month after he was shot outside a shopping mall in Hallandale Beach, Florida in the middle of the night. 

Hallandale Beach police Captain Aaron Smith does not believe the murder was a hate crime and says it was “an isolated incident” sparked by a disagreement between the victim and the suspect. He told Local 10 News the suspect is a woman who knew the victim. 

Police transported Arnold – who also went by Lagend Billions – to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital after he was shot around 1:30 am on April 3. He died at the hospital on April 7. 

Arnold had previously posted to social media that his life was in danger, writing that he had a “reward” on his head. 

The Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents Blog wrote that Arnold had a large extended family and “was a significant male adult figure in the lives of his nieces and nephews.” 

It continued, “Friends, former coworkers, neighbors all seem to have stories about this man taking time to connect and listen to them, to support them especially during difficult times. These recurring themes of his compassion, kindness, and showing up wind through a lot of the countless tributes pouring in on social media.”

One friend, CeCe Gates, wrote on Facebook that Arnold was there for her when she was a terrified new mom. 

“I thank you for always answering the phone when I was lost, for never being afraid to tell me when I’m wrong, telling me to pray when I was weak, always offering words of encouragement… sometimes I never had to say anything… in the silence you knew I just needed someone to be there… 15 years of friendship and I never thought I would be saying goodbye like this … thank you for blessing the world with your greatness, laughter, and good energy. Thank you for showing the world that there is nothing better than being your true authentic self.”

In a statement reported by The Advocate, Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs at the National Black Justice Coalition, stated, “Tee Arnold is the fourth death driven by hate of a trans man this year, marking a concerning rise in fatal violence against our brothers.” 

“Weeks prior to his death, Tee posted that his life was in danger, indicating that if the police had taken action on the threats against his life, this tragedy could have been prevented. We also cannot ignore that this murder occurred in Florida, a state that has been leading the charge in anti-trans legislation and rhetoric. Similarly, we cannot forget that, more often than not, requests for law enforcement protection from Black LGBTQ+/SGL people are not provided even though we face disproportionate hate-driven violence.”

The Human Rights Campaign has documented seven other trans people who have died by violent means in 2024. 

A reward of up to $5,000 has been offered to anyone with information that may lead to an arrest in Arnold’s death. Those who know something can remain anonymous if they choose and can call Hallandale Beach police at (954) 457-1400 or Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.

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Michigan passes landmark law decriminalizing surrogacy & protecting LGBTQ+ parentage rights

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a law on Monday that adds crucial protections for LGBTQ+ couples using fertility treatments to build a family. 

The Michigan Family Protection Act includes a series of provisions to protect families of all kinds. Most notably for the LGBTQ+ community, it changes “outdated state law to treat LGBTQ+ families equally and eliminate the need for them to go through a costly and invasive process to get documentation confirming their parental status,” as a press release from the governor’s office explains, adding that “Even if they move to a state that does not respect these basic rights, these bills help ensure they cannot be denied their relationship to their child.”

The law also repeals a law that made Michigan the only state in the country to criminalize surrogacy contracts; increases protections for surrogates, parents, and children; ensures equal legal treatment of children born through surrogacy and assisted reproduction; and streamlines the process for families to establish legal connections to their children.

“The Michigan Family Protection Act takes commonsense, long-overdue action to repeal Michigan’s ban on surrogacy, protect families formed by IVF, and ensure LGBTQ+ parents are treated equally,” Gov. Whitmer said in a statement. “Your family’s decisions should be up to you, and my legislative partners and I will keep fighting like hell to protect reproductive freedom in Michigan and make our state the best place to start, raise, and grow your family.” 

Stephanie Jones, founder of the Michigan Fertility Alliance, called the legislation “an incredible victory for all Michigan families formed through assisted reproduction, including IVF and surrogacy, and for LGBTQ+ families. 

The press release also acknowledged the attacks on reproductive rights taking place across the country, most notably the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade and the 2024 Alabama Supreme Court’s declaration that embryos created through IVF have the same legal rights as children. 

“As other states seek to restrict IVF, ban abortion, and make it harder to start a family, Michigan is supporting women and protecting reproductive freedoms for everyone,” the release stated. 

One fierce advocate, Tammy Myers, has been fighting for the decriminalization of surrogacy in the state for the past four years. She told 7 Action News, “The tipping point, I think, is seeing that rights are being taken across the nation and we all need to fight for reproductive freedom.”

Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), added in a statement, “Michigan has shown us what strengthening families should look like in 2024: making it more possible for people to fulfill their dreams of building a family and more accessible for all families, including LGBTQ+ families, to obtain the safety and stability that comes with legal parentage.” 

“Amid efforts to restrict Americans’ reproductive freedom and roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people and their families, the Michigan Family Protection Act is an inspiring example for other states where gaps in parentage laws leave families vulnerable.”

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Haters attacked an inclusive public library. So its director made the whole city a book sanctuary.

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Last June, the Hoboken Public Library in New Jersey hosted a Banned Books Read-A-Thon event in honor of Pride Month. Library director Jennie Pu described the event as “very simple” and “almost boring,” where participants merely read excerpts from books out loud. 

But that didn’t stop the right-wing outrage machine from stirring up trouble. It started when Internet troll Chaya Raichik disparaged the event on her Libs of TikTok social media account, which has been known to inspire threats of violence against the facilities it targets. Raichik claimed the Read-A-Thon books “promote[d] kink and sex apps” and her followers proceeded to flood the library with hate messages that Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla called “disgusting expressions of homophobia, racism, and intolerance.” 

Related:

Bhalla accused Raichik of “purposefully spreading false information” and reaffirmed the city’s commitment to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. 

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The library team refused to let the army of haters stop the event from taking place. Instead, community leaders came out in full force, reading from books like Stella Brings the Family and A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo – both picture books for children. 

Pu told LGBTQ Nation that no one from the Hoboken community, itself, seemed to oppose the event. The hate largely came from out of state, but it nonetheless made it clear that not even urban liberal enclaves in predominately blue states are safe from right-wing attacks. 

After the experience, Pu wanted to make it clear where her city stood. So she initiated the process of establishing the Hoboken Public Library as a book sanctuary. 

A public statement on who we are

The book sanctuary movement began in 2022 when the Chicago Public Library committed to protecting endangered books and making them widely available across all of its 81 branches. After Pu saw the Hoboken community rally around the Read-A-Thon event, she knew she had to follow suit. 

“I went to our board and said, we really should make a much more public statement about who we are, and a book sanctuary is just a stronger, more public commitment to the work that we already do.”

The board unanimously agreed, but Pu wanted to go even further. Why not make the entire city a book sanctuary? She worked with the City Council to pass a resolution in September 2023 declaring Hoboken New Jersey’s first book sanctuary city.

Community members reacted with “overwhelming support and pride,” Pu said. People thanked her and told her they were so proud to live there. Librarians from across the state reached out for advice on how to follow suit. 

“It’s really caught me a little bit by surprise and delight,” she said, adding that the state now has 14 book sanctuary libraries. “Other libraries have taken notice and said, ‘This is something we can do to ensure our community stands up for this.’ It’s a proactive measure to all this nonsense that’s being spread by a small minority of voices.” 

As American as apple pie

Pu is right that despite the loud racket book banners have made across the nation, it is a very small group fighting to ban books with “inappropriate” content – which is usually code for books about LGBTQ+ issues and race – from schools and public library shelves. 

In Escambia County, Florida, for example, English teacher Vicki Baggett has become notorious for her relentless crusade to ban over 100 books from school libraries. Baggett submitted almost all of the 150 book challenges the district received in 2023. And a shocking report from the Washington Post found that only 11 people were responsible for 60 percent of nationwide book challenges during the 2021-2022 school year.

Pu says this small minority challenging large swaths of books is different from the type of censorship challenges libraries have long confronted. 

“For as long as the American Library Association has been covering censorship or book banning, it was one person challenging one title,” she said. Now, some people are fighting to ban entire categories of books. 

“One of my colleagues in Kentucky, who actually created the first book sanctuary there at Paris Bourbon County Library, one of their banners wanted to ban outright all LGBTQ books.” 

It is surprising, Pu said, emphasizing her belief that attacking public libraries could not be more undemocratic. 

“What’s more American than a public library?” she said. “I’ve traveled to a few countries in my limited lifespan, and I can’t think of any other country that has in every single town a post office and a public library. That is as American as apple pie. Going after us is really an attack on the fundamentals of who we are. Some people don’t like who we’re becoming, who we already are, and want to control that narrative.”

And no matter the size of the movement to ban books, it is certainly having a nationwide effect. Not only are legislators proposing harsh book-banning laws, but more members of the public are beginning to ask questions about what kids should be allowed to read. Despite the overwhelming community support the Hoboken Public Library has received in its efforts to protect banned books, Pu has noticed a skepticism in the air that never used to be there. 

“Before this happened, we never got questioned,” she said. “But now it’s like, well why are you having this event?”

Shifting tactics 

As we slide further into what will inevitably be a tumultuous election year, Pu knows the conversations around book banning are only going to get more heated. She does, however, see the tactics changing. 

“Voting results have shown that candidates who want to ban books lose elections. Period. So what we’re seeing now, instead, is the rhetoric moving from banning books to definitions of obscenity. We’re seeing a shift in tactics and language, but underlying intent is still there.”

A bill currently being considered in West Virginia, for example, says librarians, museum workers, and school educators could be jailed for providing “obscene” materials to minors. The bill provides only a vague definition of what constitutes “obscene.” 

But Pu is excited about a bill currently making its way through the New Jersey state legislature that would enshrine all she has fought for into law. 

The Freedom to Read Act declares reading a constitutional human right and states that “students have a right to access a diverse range of age-relevant information, stories, perspectives, and ideas.” It also seeks to protect librarians from harassment. 

Pu said some opposition to the bill is forming, but she thinks it will pass this year. She believes most people respect librarians as trained professionals who are more than capable of curating diverse, thoughtful collections. 

Fighting on the frontlines 

As the mother of a teenager, Pu deeply understands the consequences of barring kids from accessing a wide range of stories. “You’re going through so much, and to not make those books available to people who are looking for themselves in these stories, I can’t imagine living in a country where that’s permissible.” 

She encourages everyone to start their own book sanctuaries, emphasizing that it doesn’t require being a library director to do so. A child can start a bookshelf in their room, a community resident can start a little free library. A teacher can declare their classroom a safe space. 

“That’s what’s so great about this movement,” Pu said, “is that anyone can kind of stand up for this in their own capacity.”

Pu remains optimistic, believing that inclusivity will ultimately win the day. 

“I think in the end, the American public will prevail,” she said. “When people start to realize this is much more about eroding our fundamental rights as human beings, I don’t think the American public will stand for that.” 

She said that in her world, there is no desire to stop fighting.

“I don’t think anyone went to library school to be prepared to fight on the frontlines, but here we are, and we’re gonna do it.”

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