Journal Article

Erotophobia, Homophobia, and Censorship in U.S. Libraries: An Historical Overview

Cornog, Martha

2016

Overview

How U.S. libraries have dealt with books having sex-related content has evolved markedly over the past century. In the early 1900s, some sex education materials were bought and circulated, but literature and fiction dealing with sex tended to be labeled \"immoral,\" thought to promote bad or lawless behavior. By the 1920s, attitudes and policies had begun to liberalize, a trend that escalated through the 1960s partly in relation to passage of the Library Bill of Rights in 1939. Books discussing homosexuality, however, tended to remain stigmatized. In 1970, the ALA Task Force on Gay Liberation was founded; and while some stigma persisted, gay-themed books became more accepted over the next three decades. Since 2000, librarian attitudes have matched and even run ahead of the culture at large in terms of stocking books with sexual and homosexual content, and retaining titles against challenges. Certainly in the last decade, numerous collection development articles and reviews relating to sexuality and homosexuality have appeared in the library literature. Cultural exposure, scholarly knowledge, and social familiarity have reduced stigma about formerly taboo sex practices, including homosexuality, and this trend has both influenced and been influenced by libraries.

• Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc
• Subject: 20th century / Attitudes / Censorship / Familiarity / Fear & phobias / Fiction / Fielding, Henry (1707-1754) / French literature / Gays & lesbians / Homophobia / Homosexuality / Librarians / Libraries / Library collections / Literature / Maupassant, Guy de (Henri-Rene-Albert Guy de Maupassant) (1850-1893) / Sex education / Sexuality / Stigma / Taboos / Titles