Book bans in America and the UK have grown in numbers since 2022, with majority of these bans targeting books that focus on LGBTQ+ issues, themes and characters (Bien-Aimé & Marshall, 2023). Books that have been requested to be removed from school libraries are titles such as This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and ABC Pride by by Louie Stowell, Elly Barnes and Amy Phelps, with a large number of these requests coming from parents or teachers claiming concerns over their children’s safety (Creamer, 2024). 

At this year’s London Book Fair, Juno Dawson spoke at a panel entitled Freedom to Read in the National Year of Reading: Facing Removal Requests and Supporting Targeted Communities, alongside Louis Coiffait-Gunn, CEO at Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and Louisa Joyner from Faber & Faber. The discussion centred around the impacts of these book bans and the ripple effect they have on queer individuals. 

During the panel, Dawson explained that the notion of banning books sends a message to queer people that their existence is something that should be and will be challenged by the wider world. She dubbed this as an “ideological censorship” that would inevitably cause members of the LGBTQ+ community to “self-censor” – essentially censoring themselves pre-emptively to prevent it from happening later.

This Book is Gay was the ninth most banned book in America in 2023, despite it being written with the intention to bring hope and sexual education to young queer people who may be struggling to find it elsewhere (Seidlinger, 2023). In the UK, however, there seems to be a lack of data which makes it difficult to determine the length of breadth of the issue, especially seeing as those posing these book bans tend to be individuals such as parents, carers or headteachers opposed to the larger organised groups in America (Creamer, 2026). Fellow panellist Louis Coiffait-Gunn emphasised the importance of continuing to collect data on this matter, as majority of data collated thus far has been deeply worrying anecdotal evidence from local librarians (2026). The panellists agreed that these librarians should be protected first, many of whom have faced abuse for merely stocking the aforementioned queer books that have been deemed offensive or inappropriate (2026). 

“Diversity is not a genre,” Dawson said in response to the damaging nature of censorship, “it is a lived experience.” (2026). By banning queer books, the freedom to read and access information is under attack – safeguarding measures are being misused to target librarians and minority groups which should be cause for public and industry interest (Dancey-Downs, 2026). 

Attending this panel made me consider who censorship of this nature was really benefitting, if anyone at all? As publishers we have a direct impact on what books make it to the forefront, on which authors are being promoted, but it seems that material focusing on the issues of minority groups continuously fall to the wayside with little outcry from the majority.

Bibliography

Creamer, E. (2024). Dozens of UK school librarians asked to remove LGBTQ+ books, survey finds. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/19/uk-school-librarians-asked-remove-lgbtq-books-index-on-censorship [Accessed 2 May 2026].

Creamer, E. (2026). London book fair roundup: Idris Elba’s thriller deal, the rise of romcom, and fights against censorship. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/16/london-book-fair-roundup-idris-elbas-thriller-deal-the-rise-of-romcom-and-fights-against-censorship [Accessed 27 Apr. 2026].

Dancey-Downs, K. (2026). School book banning escalates in the UK as Greater Manchester secondary school censors scores of books – Index on Censorship. [online] Index on Censorship. Available at: https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/school-book-banning-escalates-in-the-uk-as-greater-manchester-secondary-school-censors-scores-of-books/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2026].

Dawson, J. and Coiffait-Gunn , L. (2026). Freedom to Read in the National Year of Reading: Facing Removal Requests and Supporting Targeted Communities. London Book Fair. 11 Mar.

Marshall, L.H. and Bien-Aimé, S. (2025). Newspaper framing of attempts to ban LGTBQ books in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland. Media Culture & Society, 47(7). doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437251331901.

Seidlinger |, M. (2023). ‘This Book Is Gay’ Author Juno Dawson Takes On Book Banning. [online] PublishersWeekly.com. Available at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/91885-this-book-is-gay-author-juno-dawson-takes-on-book-banning.html [Accessed 1 May 2026].