{"id":160744,"date":"2022-12-19T17:36:01","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T17:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/?p=160744"},"modified":"2023-01-12T20:11:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T20:11:53","slug":"to-censor-or-not-to-censor-how-libraries-can-support-lgbt-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/?p=160744","title":{"rendered":"To Censor or Not to Censor?: How Libraries Can Support LGBT+ Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

To Censor or Not to Censor?: How Libraries Can Support\u00a0<\/strong>LGBT+ Youth.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Access to accurate information has become more important than ever as US states
\nnavigate new laws criminalizing life-saving reproductive and gender-affirming care.
\nConservatives continue to assert that children and youth are too young to learn about LGBT+
\ntopics;, however, censorship only makes it more difficult for young people to navigate these
\ntopics safely.<\/p>\n

While the American Library Association (ALA)<\/a> believes that providing youth with the
\ntools to analyze and understand information is \u00a0the best way to protect them, many in the US
\ngovernment and many others feel the best way to protect youth is to limit the information they
\ncan access. Teen internet use and sexuality are seen as social problems in need of fixing. Adults
\noften respond to these fears by limiting teens\u2019 agency and discouraging them from learning about\u00a0or exploring their identities. Additionally, many news organizations spread harmful
\nmisinformation about gender-affirming care and continue to assert that youth are not old enough\u00a0to know who they are.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, libraries in the US often must comply with The Child Internet Protection<\/a>
\nAct (CIPA) to receive federal funding. This makes it harder for them to uphold values such as
\naccess and privacy. Many LGBT+ teens express a need for confidentiality and reassurance that
\nthey will not be \u201couted\u201d to their parents, other patrons, or authority figures. In the digital age,
\nconcerns around privacy are becoming increasingly important. As anti-LGBT+ campaigns
\nincrease, queer youth will need people and institutions to advocate for them and fight against
\nmisinformation. For decades, public libraries have prided themselves on being \u201cneutral,\u201d;
\nhowever their communities need them to be advocates and allies of liberation movements<\/p>\n

Working with LGBT+ youth often requires unlearning or rethinking many preconceived
\nbeliefs around gender and sexuality. Queer youth challenge many traditional ways of thinking
\nand being in the world, which is often why they face so much backlash. Supporting LGBT+
\nyouth depends on challenging norms around gender, childhood, family, and sexuality that
\nexclude them.<\/p>\n

Libraries can also play a role in making LGBT+ youth and families feel valued in their
\ncommunities. They often connect youth and families to helpful resources and community
\norganizations. Not only does this improve event attendance and impact, but it also creates safer
\ncommunities and environments for marginalized people.<\/p>\n

There are also many ways libraries can improve their services to LGBT+ youth,
\nsuch as creating gender-neutral restrooms, lessening restrictions on library cards or use of library\u00a0services, and including LGBT+ books and resources in their collections.<\/p>\n

LGBT+ teens across the country are fighting against harmful policies and politicians.
\nAnd while many of them are winning their cases against school boards and state legislatures,
\nthey shouldn\u2019t have to spend their teen years advocating for us to see their humanity and protect\u00a0them from harm.<\/p>\n

Seeking and creating information are important forms of self-expression and\u00a0identity formation for youth. They need adults to honor their agency and join the fight against censorship campaigns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To Censor or Not to Censor?: How Libraries Can Support\u00a0LGBT+ Youth.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Access to accurate information has become more important than ever as US states navigate new laws criminalizing life-saving reproductive and gender-affirming care. Conservatives continue to assert that children and youth are too young to learn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160744"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160757,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160744\/revisions\/160757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}