The Arizona LGBT+ History Project hosted its second annual Banned Books reading featuring books such as The Color Purple, My Princess Boy and Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out.
“I thought, ‘Let’s have some fun with that idea of banned books and banned book reading,’” said Marshall Shore, creator of the even
t. “I’m all about trying to induce fun in anything you can because if you infuse it, people don’t realize they’re learning.”
The event started with a reading by Kendra Anne Tonan-Lizzarago of Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out. The passage she read was about a mother accepting her transgender daughter.
“It was the one that jumped out of the titles,” Tonan-Lizzarago said. “I instantly downloaded it that night and I’ve read it three times prior to (the event). And I kept coming back to that one chapter. For me personally, my parents didn’t accept me so it was important to show acceptance from parents.”
Readings that followed included Persepolis: A Story a Childhood, Pedagogy of the Oppressed and My Princess Boy.
Drag Queen Sister Surmon Visage emceed the event and read excerpts from ‘A Lover’s Cock’ and other gay poems. “I am called a sister of perpetual indulgence,” Visage said. “I am queer known for the modern age. I am a real nun and I take a vow to eradicate…guilt and accommodate joy. I will help you with your cause, I will help myself with my cause. I don’t mind cheering… And I don’t mind taking a bitch down.”
Across the United States, many teachers, librarians and educators celebrate Banned Book Week, an event that takes place in the last week of September aiming to stop the banning and censorship of books in schools.
The banned book reading sought to raise awareness about this censorship in public schools.
“When you look at the fact that so much is censored and so many things that may hold dear as a book, you’re shocked to find out that somebody had tried to censor that,” Shores said. “As a librarian, if I don’t have something that offends you in my library, I’m doing a bad job.”
“All books need to be open to the public,” Tonan-Lizzarago said. “Banning any book is just ignorance. I’ve educated myself immensely just by picking up a novel and reading it. Even stuff maybe I didn’t agree with, picking that novel up and reading at least give me that point of view and enlightened me on that opinion.”
Banned Book Week continues until Sept. 29.
For questions, contact the reporter at ekholdaw@asu.edu.
