The American Library Association (ALA) just released its annual list of the most challenged books in public, school, and university libraries. Challenges spiked by almost 20% last year, with books featuring LGBTQ characters taking eight of ten top spots.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. ALA researchers say data show 82–97% of book removals go undocumented and unreported.

Besides Harry Potter and The Handmaid’s Tale, which both made the censored top 10, every other book on the list was challenged because of LGBTQ themes. From same-sex penguin parents in New York’s Central Park Zoo to a middle-school girl producing a drama club musical with a couple gay cast members, books with transgender and gay themes were removed from library shelves all over the the US.

The top 10 of the 566 books most targeted in 2019 —

George by Alex Gino. Middle grade fiction.

Dust jacket: When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte.

ALA summary: Challenged, banned, restricted, and hidden to avoid controversy; for LGBTQIA+ content and a transgender character.

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin. YA nonfiction.

Dust jacket: Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages.

ALA summary: Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, for “its effect on any young people who would read it,” and for concerns that it was sexually explicit and biased.

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illustrated by E.G. Keller. Children’s picture book.

Dust jacket: HBO’s Emmy-winning Last Week Tonight with John Oliver presents a picture book about a Very Special boy bunny who falls in love with another boy bunny. Sweet, funny, and beautifully illustrated, this book is dedicated to every bunny who has ever felt different.

ALA summary: Challenged and vandalized for LGBTQIA+ content and political viewpoints, for concerns that it is “designed to pollute the morals of its readers,” and for not including a content warning.

Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, illustrated by Fiona Smyth. Children’s educational comic book.

Dust jacket: A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender identities. An essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 8 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers.

ALA summary: Challenged, banned, and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content; for discussing gender identity and sex education; and for concerns that the title and illustrations were “inappropriate.”

Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis. Children’s fiction.

Dust jacket: In this modern fairy tale, a noble prince and a brave knight come together to defeat a terrible monster and in the process find true love in a most unexpected place.

ALA summary: Challenged and restricted for featuring a gay marriage and LGBTQIA+ content; for being “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children” with the potential to cause confusion, curiosity, and gender dysphoria; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint.

I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings. Children’s nonfiction.

Dust jacket: The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere. From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl’s brain in a boy’s body.

ALA summary: Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for a transgender character, and for confronting a topic that is “sensitive, controversial, and politically charged.”

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Literary fiction.

Dust jacket: This dystopian novel is set in a near-future New England, in a totalitarian state known as Gilead, resembling a theonomy that overthrows the United States government.

Explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means by which these women resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence.

ALA summary: Banned and challenged for profanity and for “vulgarity and sexual overtones.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier. Middle grade fiction.

Dust jacket: Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school’s production of Moon Over Mississippi, she can’t really sing. When two cute brothers enter the picture, things get crazy!

ALA summary: Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and for concerns that it goes against “family values/morals.

Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. YA fiction.

Dust jacket: A series of seven fantasy novels chronicling the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

ALA summary: Banned and forbidden from discussion for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing “actual curses and spells”, and for characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals.

And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, illustrated by Henry Cole. Children’s picture book.

Dust jacket: In the zoo there are all kinds of animal families. But Tango’s family is not like any of the others. This illustrated children’s book fictionalizes the true story of two male penguins who became partners and raised a penguin chick in the Central Park Zoo.

ALA summary: Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content

LGBTQ book banning has risen dramatically since 2015

The National Coalition Against Censorship has issued a joint statement with rights groups like GLAAD, GLSEN, National Youth Rights Association, and Human Rights Watch to condemn growing pressure on libraries and schools to remove LGBTQ books.

In the five years before 2015, LGBTQ books never made up more than 20% of the ALA’s top 10. That percentage has grown every year since, from 40% in 2015 to 80% last year.

From the joint statement —

When LGBTQ stories are silenced in this way, LGBTQ youth and children from LGBTQ families get the message that their own stories — their very lives — do not have value, that they are shameful. However, reading stories that acknowledge their experiences, in which they can recognize themselves and their families, reinforces their sense of self-worth and helps them overcome the experience of and feelings associated with social marginalisation.

Each of these banned LGBTQ books is age appropriate

With the exception of Sex is a Funny Word, advertised as a sex education tool for parents and children, and presumably shelved as such, none of these books discusses sex. They’re stories about kids or for kids that simply include same-sex couples and transgender people.

The penguin story, And Tango Makes Three, is charming, sweet, and true. Same-sex pairs of bonded penguins have been documented at zoos all over the world.

Drama, featuring a middle school girl who crushes on boys, includes some secondary gay characters. Themes of tolerance and respect predominate.

Prince & Knight is a breezy fairy tale with a same-sex marriage and … zero sex. Instead, children learn that men who fall in love with men are perfectly OK. That sounds like a lesson worth internalizing.

George tells an uplifting story about a transgender girl having trouble at school because people insist she’s a boy. Written for middle-grade students, it sticks to age-appropriate language and concepts without introducing any sexually mature themes. Kids are going to meet transgender people in their lives. This book may help them understand and respect those people.

Banning books about people who are different hurts vulnerable kids

Children are smart. When we show them some people are such “others” that books about them must be removed from libraries, we teach a toxic message. We show them some people don’t deserve respect and acceptance.

That’s a terribly damaging message for LGBTQ kids, and it’s an immoral message for their cis/straight peers. LGBTQ kids exist. LGBTQ people exist. Banning books doesn’t ban us. It just hurts us.

Our stories matter and deserve to be told.