Banning Books-A Concern for All Authors
I must speak up against a disturbing trend in the US: book banning. As an author, this affects my livelihood and my creativity.
These bans started with children’s books, labeling them as pornography and indecent.
The indecency they teach children?
- Inclusion
- Acceptance
- Embracing diversity and difference
- Loving themselves and others
- Being kind and compassionate to each other
- Allowing people to express and be who they are
Super scary stuff for bigots, racists, haters, and fear mongers. Without these things, they lose control of the people and their power.
But they aren’t stopping with children’s books. Oklahoma is also targeting adult books. All book banning is a violation of free speech!
They are starting with stories because they are a powerful way to charge society. When we read about these themes, we begin to think about them and question our beliefs.
They won’t stop with books. This is simply the beginning of taking total control of our lives, our bodies, and our minds.
If These Themes Bother You…
You don’t want to read my books if the themes of inclusion, diversity, freedom, different perspectives about love, and different expressions of the Divine bother you, or make you uncomfortable.
The norm for the Posair society in my Legends of Lairheim series is polyamory. They love whom they love.
In book 3, The Scourge Incursion, I explore a species of people with three genders and need all three to procreate.
As a result of the alien invasion that occurs in book 3, the society no longer is homogeneous and they need to deal with diversity for the first time.
The society is a theocracy, ruled by The Supreme, the living avatar of the Goddess. I explore the four faces of the Goddess: Maiden, Mother, Matriarch, and Crone.
The society is equalitarian, with positions of leadership held equally by men and women. The community raises the children.
And oh, yes, there is sex on the page, because relationships and sex are part of life.
Because my books include these themes, mine and many other authors’ books will be next on the chopping block.
There’s a Simple Solution!
The simple solution for all the hate and fear mongering is if they don’t like it or believe in it, they don’t have to:
- Read the books
- Go to the drag queen story hour
- Get an abortion
- Transition their gender
None of that hurts another person, nor is it anyone’s business or right to dictate what other people do or how they live their life.
I encourage you to speak up, contact your legislators and let them know you don’t support their hate and bigotry. There’s more of us that don’t, but we aren’t lifting our voices to be heard over the hate mongering of the Christian Nationalist GOP.
