Pedestrians walk past the Fabulosa Bookstore in San Francisco’s Castro District on Thursday. The bookstore is sending LGBTQ+ books to parts of the country where they are subject to censorship, in response to a rapidly growing effort by anti-LGBTQ+ activists and lawmakers to ban the sale of queer-friendly books in public schools and libraries.
Haven Daley/AP
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Haven Daley/AP
SAN FRANCISCO — In an increasingly divisive political landscape, Becca Robbins is focusing on what she knows best — books.
Robbins operates out of a small room at Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the United States, using donations from customers to ship boxes of books to groups across the country that need them.
In what she calls a “book ban” effort, she has sent books about queer history, sex, romance and more — many of which are increasingly growing in the face of a book-banning campaign by conservative advocacy groups and lawmakers. Difficult to obtain.
“Banning books is terrible, it’s an attempt at erasure,” Robbins said. She asked herself how she could get the books into the hands of those who needed them most.
Starting last May, she began raising funds and looking for recipients. Her books have been sent to places like a pride center in west Texas and an LGBTQ-friendly high school in Alabama.
Customers are particularly enthusiastic about helping Robbins ship books to places like Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, often writing support notes and including them in the packages. More than 40% of book bans between July 2022 and June 2023 occurred in Florida, more than any other state. Florida was followed by Texas and Missouri, according to a report by PEN America, a nonprofit literary advocacy group.
According to the American Library Association, book bans and attempted bans are at an all-time high. Now, these efforts have expanded to public and school libraries. Because the totals are based on media reports and reports submitted by librarians, the association treats its numbers as a snapshot, and many bans are not recorded.
PEN America reported that 30% of bans included characters of color or discussed race and racism, and 30% included LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
The broadest challenges tend to come from conservative groups such as Liberty Moms, which organizes nationwide book bans and calls for parents to have more control over children’s books.
Co-founder Tiffany Justice told The Associated Press that Free Moms is not anti-LGBTQ+. But according to the Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, about 38 percent of book challenges “originating directly” from the organization have LGBTQ+ themes. Justice said Free Mom challenges sexually explicit books not because of their coverage of LGBTQ+ themes.
Top of the list of banned films include Maya Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” George Johnson’s “All Boys Are Not Blue” and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.”
Robbins said it’s more important than ever to make books like this available to everyone.
“Fiction teaches us how to dream,” Robbins said. “It teaches us how to connect with people who are different from ourselves, it teaches us how to listen and emphasize.”
So far, she has sent out 740 books, worth $300 to $400 per box, depending on the title.
Books donated by Fabulosa are already on the shelves at the new Rose Dynasty Center in Lakeland, Florida, said drag queen Jason DeShazo, a.k.a. Mama Ash, who directs the LGBTQ+ community center Momma Ashley Rose.
DeShazo is a family-friendly drag performer who has long hosted drag storytelling events to promote literacy. He uses puppets to address themes of kindness, dealing with bullying, and giving back to the community.
DeShazo hopes to provide a safe space for events, support groups and health clinics, as well as establish a library of banned books.
“I don’t think people of color should have to look so hard to find a great book about the history that our black community has experienced,” DeShazo said. “Or for those who are queer, find a book that represents them.”
Robbins’ favorite books to send are queer YA romance novels, a genre that is growing rapidly as discussions of LGBTQ+ issues become more mainstream than they were a decade ago.
“These characters are like regular kids — regular kids who are queer, but they can fall in love and be happy,” Robbins said.
