Dr. Gloria Velasquez’s novel “Tommy Stands Alone,” the story of a homosexual teenager, was first banned in Colorado colleges over 20 years in the past. Now it is being censored throughout Texas, too.
Dr. Velasquez, a former Cal Poly professor, says the book was first revealed in 1995. Soon after, she was scheduled to talk about it at numerous colleges throughout the nation. A faculty in Colorado was the primary place she skilled outrage about her novel.
“Teachers and parents got very upset and they warned me not to use the word gay,” she recalled.
Now, greater than 20 years later, she says she lately obtained a name informing her that “Tommy Stands Alone” had been banned in elements of Texas, too. She says her writing is impressed by her function as a social activist, sharing the tales of marginalized members of society.
“It’s a complex issue,” Dr. Velasquez stated. “One of the things that I always emphasize when I speak is that I am a humanitarian.”
A brand new report from the American Library Association exhibits that final 12 months, there have been tried bans on over 1,500 books with most of them representing LGBTQ+ themes and written by folks of coloration.
On Friday, writers and activists are set to participate in a book ban caravan and march in Austin, Texas. Some of Dr. Velasquez’s books have been donated to the caravan, which can distribute them to nonprofits.