This piece highlights a recurring pattern: attempts to suppress LGBTQ+ books often increase their popularity. Historical examples include Wichita Falls, Texas, where two children’s books about same-sex parents saw dramatic spikes in checkouts after being targeted.
“In this study, we use a novel, large-scale data set of U.S. library book circulations and evaluate the impact of high-profile book bans on the consumption of banned books. Using a staggered difference-in-differences design, we find that the circulations of banned books increased by 12%, on average, compared with comparable nonbanned titles after the ban. We also find that banning a book in a state leads to increased circulation in states without bans. We show that the increase in consumption is driven by books from lesser-known authors, suggesting that new and unknown authors stand to gain from the increasing consumer support.”
“Now, a recent study published in The Journal of Pediatrics adds yet another data point to the overwhelming body of evidence supporting this [gender affirming] care, finding that suicidality scores dropped significantly an average of two years and up to five years after patients received gender-affirming treatment.”
“The Trump Administration is clearly touting mis- and disinformation and calling it ‘evidence’ to advance false and unsupported claims about gender-affirming care. Their agenda is clear and dangerous: the Administration will rely on the so-called findings in this ‘report’ to issue orders that restrict gender-affirming care.
