To all my brave Defenders of Liberty—
Welcome back! It's once again time for tea, where truth is steeped strong and poured piping hot. Don’t let that hint of lavender and jasmine fool you—this tea has bite.
As we gather again in defense of freedom and justice, I want to offer a reminder to every patriot standing their ground: Whether you’re penning letters to your local school board, sharing bold truths with a hesitant friend, or simply refusing to remain silent in the face of wrong—you are doing important work. Even the smallest act of resistance can ignite a revolution.
Never forget, the greatest movements in history began with whispers of dissent. Let’s keep the whispering going until it becomes a roar.
Now then, let’s crack on with today’s main topic. Today, we point our pen at those who would limit the knowledge and ideas available for learning. Today, friends, we are talking about censorship.
The Historical Hand of Censorship
Censorship, like tyranny, is an ancient vice with a modern wardrobe. It has followed humanity through the rise and fall of empires—always cloaked in the language of protection, always wielded to preserve power.
Let’s begin with the Roman Empire and its spiritual successor, the Catholic Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum—the Index of Forbidden Books. Officially established in 1559, it forbade works by authors like Galileo, Erasmus, and Copernicus. Even translations of the Bible into common languages were blacklisted. Why? Because nothing scares the powerful more than a thinking, reading public.
The consequences were profound. Scientific discovery slowed. Reformation was delayed. Minds were chained not by ignorance, but by engineered stupidity—suppression masquerading as sanctity.
The Inquisition followed. Books weren’t just banned—they were burned. Ideas were put on trial. Europe’s cultural and scientific growth stagnated under the jackboot of orthodoxy.
And yet—truth has a way of slipping through even the tightest fists.
In colonial America, censorship appeared again. British rulers jailed printers and passed sedition laws to punish dissent. Pamphlets like Common Sense were considered dangerous—not because they incited violence, but because they incited thought. The Boston Gazette was labeled treasonous simply for printing the truth.
But suppression begat resistance. The American Revolution was born not just from bullets—but from books. From voices. From the fire of ideas too bold to be silenced.
“Parental Rights”: The Velvet Glove of Control
These days, censorship has a softer name: “parental rights.” Let me be clear—parents do have rights. They have the right to guide their own children’s education, faith, and values. But those rights end where another family’s begin.
What we’re seeing today is not about one parent’s concern. It’s about some parents trying to decide what all children can read, hear, or learn.
Here’s the thing: you can still teach your child whatever you like at home.
Want to raise them in your faith? That’s your sacred right. But let’s not twist scripture to justify censorship. God gave clear instructions on raising children. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go,” and Deuteronomy 6 commands parents to teach their children God’s word diligently—at home, when you sit in your house, when you walk, when you lie down, and when you rise.
It says nothing about outsourcing that responsibility to teachers. Nowhere does it say your child should be learning values from the school system.
A teacher’s job is not to carry the burden of your personal doctrine. Their job is to teach the who, what, when, where, and how. To help children develop the skills to ask why—and discern truth from fiction through reason, evidence, and empathy. If your child needs context, that’s where you come in. That’s your sacred duty as a parent.
But you don’t have the right to demand that the school system censor other children’s education so yours doesn’t have to encounter ideas you disagree with. Public education is not a pulpit. It’s a foundation for citizenship in a pluralistic society.
We cannot raise free thinkers if we limit what they’re allowed to think about. We cannot raise critical minds if we refuse to let them ask critical questions.
Let us be clear: Parental rights are real. But so to is parental responsibility. And that responsibility starts at home—not at the school board meeting demanding a ban on books you haven’t even read. Before trying to help everyone else parent their children, perhaps go have a conversation with your own.
Digital Erasure: The New Book Burning
If you think censorship only lives in classrooms and libraries, think again. It’s also happening online—silently, swiftly, and often without public debate. Government agencies, public health departments, and school websites across the country are scrubbing mentions of LGBTQ services, removing links to resources for disabled students, and rewriting pages that once provided support to people of color.
This isn’t content moderation. This is a digital book burning.
Instead of flames, we now use keystrokes. Instead of ash, we’re left with blank pages and broken links. But the intent is the same: erase the truth, and pretend it was never there.
When LGBTQ youth search for support and find nothing—when a disabled student can’t access a page that used to explain their rights—when families of color are told that “diversity initiatives” are no longer allowed on public websites—what message are we sending?
We’re telling them they don’t exist. Or worse, that they shouldn’t.
This is no different than the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s, where anything that contradicted the regime’s ideology—whether it was written by Jewish scholars, queer writers, pacifists, or freethinkers—was cast into the fire. When you delete a people’s stories, you pave the way for denying their humanity.
Why This Matters: Erasure Is Not Neutral
The dangerous truth behind this modern censorship is that it’s not happening because these books or resources are wrong. They’re not being erased because they pose some imminent danger. They’re being erased because they expose a contradiction. They make it harder for those in power to keep selling a sanitized, selective, and dishonest narrative of who we are.
Let’s take the LGBTQ community as a case in point.
We hear arguments about how transgender Americans shouldn’t serve in the military, how gay marriage is a moral threat, or how simply acknowledging a child’s gender identity is “inappropriate” for schools. These claims often masquerade as concern for readiness, tradition, or propriety.
But history pulls the curtain back.
Alexander the Great—arguably one of the most brilliant military minds of the ancient world—was openly bisexual. His tactics are still studied at West Point.
Alan Turing, the man who cracked the Nazi Enigma code and helped win World War II, was gay—and later chemically castrated by the British government for it. His mind saved millions. His nation repaid him with disgrace.
The Navajo Code Talkers, many of whom were treated as second-class citizens at home, used their native language to develop an unbreakable code for the Allies. They were indispensable. And they were Indigenous men from a people the government had once tried to erase. An Indigenous people might I add, that have recognized the dual nature of gender expression within their own people from long before the first white man came to American shores.
So when the powers that be say these identities don’t belong in schools, in the military, or in the public sphere—they are not protecting children. They are protecting a lie.
South Carolina: A Case Study in State-Sanctioned Censorship
Think this is just a Beltway issue? Think again.
South Carolina has emerged as a focal point in the national discourse on book censorship, implementing one of the most restrictive book ban regulations in the United States. Under a policy effective since June 25, 2024, all reading materials in public schools must be deemed "age or developmentally appropriate," with any content depicting sexual conduct subject to removal. This regulation allows parents to challenge up to five titles per month, leading to a significant increase in book challenges statewide. WCCB Charlotte's CW+2The Guardian+2The Guardian+2
Notably, classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, and Romeo & Juliet were challenged but ultimately retained in school curricula. However, the mere fact that these seminal works faced scrutiny underscores the expansive reach of the current censorship climate. WFAE+1BPR+1
As of early 2025, the South Carolina Board of Education has banned a total of 11 books from all public school libraries. The most recent additions include:Your Island News+2BPR+2ABC Columbia+2
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Flamer by Mike Curato
Push by Sapphire
These titles were removed for containing content deemed not "age or developmentally appropriate," particularly regarding depictions of sexual conduct. Your Island News+2The Guardian+2WCCB Charlotte's CW+2
The banning of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a novel that addresses adolescent mental health struggles, is particularly concerning. In an era where teenagers face unprecedented challenges, including the threat of gun violence in schools and rising suicide rates among those under 35, removing literature that provides insight and solace is counterproductive. Suppressing such narratives does not eliminate the issues; it merely silences the conversations that could lead to understanding and healing.
This wave of censorship is not occurring in isolation. Across the nation, there has been a 200% increase in book bans during the 2023–2024 school year, with a significant number of targeted books authored by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ writers. Such actions reflect a broader trend of suppressing diverse voices and experiences, further marginalizing already underrepresented communities.People.com
The implications of these bans extend beyond the classroom. They signal to students that certain identities and experiences are unwelcome or inappropriate, fostering an environment of exclusion and stigma. In doing so, they not only hinder educational growth but also compromise the emotional and psychological well-being of young individuals seeking representation and understanding in literature.
The Light We Carry Forward
Censorship may feel like a tidal wave right now—books pulled from shelves, websites scrubbed clean, voices silenced before they’ve even had the chance to speak. But this is not the first time we’ve faced this monster. And it won’t be the last.
History tells us something powerful: censorship never wins in the long run. The more a society tries to bury the truth, the more fiercely it claws its way back to the surface. Ideas are stubborn things. They survive fire. They outlive tyrants. They find their way into the hands of the hungry—sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted, but always returned.
Take comfort, defenders of liberty: we’ve been here before.
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum banned Copernicus and Galileo—only for their discoveries to become the foundation of modern science.
The Inquisition tried to snuff out ideas that didn’t align with doctrine—and yet the Enlightenment still arrived, bearing torches.
American slaveholders outlawed literacy for the enslaved—and still, Black Americans learned, wrote, and rose.
In every generation, the censors lose. But only because the people choose to resist.
Here are three ways you can take a stand:
Share this post. Spread the word. The more light we shine, the fewer lies survive.
Run for something—especially school board.
Change starts local. Run for Something is an organization that helps young progressives run for office—especially at the state and local level where decisions about schools, libraries, and curriculum are made. If you’ve ever felt the tug to lead, this is your sign.
→ Explore Run for SomethingRead the banned books. With your kids. With your friends. For yourself. Let them spark the very conversations that fear tries to silence. If you aren’t sure where to start, please see the list of 11 books above, or take my personal recommendation and start with the Perks of Being a Wallflower. Read it. Share it. Discuss it. Let these books do what they were meant to do: open eyes and stir hearts.
We may not see every result of our resistance, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working. Every small act matters. Every voice raised adds to the chorus. Every book opened is a door that can’t be closed again.
And in the words of the immortal Ray Bradbury, whose own books have found themselves on banned lists time and time again:
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture.
Just get people to stop reading them.”— Ray BradburyLet us never stop reading. Let us never stop questioning. Let us never stop fighting for the light.
Until our Next bold move,
Lady LiberTea
🙌 THIS is a powerful work of creativeship genius!