Join CBLDF in Orlando this weekend, June 24 – 28 for the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition! We’ll be at booth 509 with the debut of our Manga Book Club Handbook; the sixth issue of CBLDF Defender, our…
Author: Maren Williams
Sedition Laws a Legacy of Colonialism Worldwide
For many Americans, the criminal offense of sedition–that is, criticism of the government–probably conjures up the notorious but short-lived Sedition Act of 1798, which played an important role in the election of 1800 but was allowed to expire the following…
Hong Kong Bookseller Speaking Out on Eight-Month Detention in China
Four of the five Hong Kong booksellers who mysteriously disappeared late last year and were presumed to be in the custody of mainland Chinese authorities have returned to the semi-autonomous region, but only one is speaking openly what happened to…
Five Years After Brown v. EMA, Debate on Video Games Still Evolving
Five years ago this month, the Supreme Court decided in Brown v. EMA that a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors was unconstitutional. Like every relatively new medium before them — comics in the 1950s,…
Orijit Sen Pushes Indian Graphic Novels Forward
Indian graphic novelist Orijit Sen first came to our attention late last year, when his illustration “The Punjaban” was repeatedly removed from Facebook because it showed a partially nude woman, despite the social media giant’s claim that it allows artistic…
Round Rock Schools Issue Statement on Author Disinvitation
The school district in Round Rock, Texas has issued an evasive response to author Phil Bildner’s allegation that his disinvitation from eight schools he had been slated to visit there this fall was due to his previous recommendation that students…
Lesbian Flirtation Edited Out of Steven Universe in Sweden
Over 1,300 Swedish fans of the Cartoon Network show Steven Universe have signed a petition objecting to dialogue changes in the Swedish-language version of a recent episode that effaced a same-sex flirtation between the characters Ruby and Sapphire. The network acknowledges…
Author of Drug Addiction Book Disinvited from Vermont School
Children’s author Kate Messner was disinvited from an unidentified elementary school in South Burlington, Vermont, this week, less than 24 hours before she was scheduled to speak to students about her new book The Seventh Wish. Even though the visit…
LGBT Comics Publisher Protests Apple Censorship
Zan Christensen, the founder of LGBT comics publisher Northwest Press, is no stranger to corporate censorship of the books he submits to digital publishing platforms. But after Apple’s iBookstore rejected all three of Northwest’s most recent offerings due “prohibited explicit…
Texas School District Cancels Author’s Visit After Transgender Book Recommendation
The Round Rock Independent School District in Texas has uninvited author Phil Bildner from all eight schools he was scheduled to visit there this fall, apparently because he recommended a book featuring a transgender protagonist when he visited the district…