So I've been writing about the increasing book-banning phenomenon for months now, observing it up close in many instances, including in a Michigan town near me where local residents voted to defund the library because librarians refused to remove from the stacks books featuring LGBTQ people.

Pen America just announced that so far in 2022 almost 1,700 books have been banned in 5,000 schools – an upsurge that makes book banning in previous years look insignificant in comparison.

41% of those books were banned because people objected to LGBTQ content, most of the rest because they address racism issues.

Many of the books at the top of ban lists, like Jonathan Evison's beautifully crafted "Lawn Boy" have been unfairly pilloried as obscene when anyone actually reading them would likely find them sensitive, insightful, and appropriate for young readers.

I know the statistics you cite are accurate, that Americans are saying they don't support book banning in the main. Nevertheless, books are being banned at an astounding and increasing rate.

Will this turn around as a majority of Americans make their voices heard, or will a vocal minority continue to dominate what actually happens? I guess that remains to be seen.

That Michigan library near me is going to continue operating for a while at least, because people all over the world have donated money to keep it going. And the funding measure supporting it will be back on the ballot in November, when voters will get a chance to speak again.

I believe most of these book banning efforts are being spearheaded by well-funded groups of activists who don't represent a majority of Americans, but ... the idea of restricting access to books in school is becoming normalized, and parents are increasingly saying they support that.

It's one thing to say, "I don't like book banning." It's another thing to get involved and fight for books you might feel queasy about ... and these activists are working pretty darn hard to make people feel queasy —unfairly in my opinion, but nevertheless.

When Moms For Liberty activists stand up at a school board meeting and read one passage out of Lawn Boy that contains sexually descriptive language — entirely out of context and without acknowledging that the novel contains an empowering message opposing sexual abuse — many parents (and school board members) who say they oppose book banning might say to themselves, "Oh, but it's okay if we ban this book. This is a bad book."

And so it goes.

So, I'm not sanguine. I'm not comfortable that book banning is going to slow down.

I certainly hope so, but the polls you cite don't ease my worry as an LGBTQ person who sees books about people like me disappearing at pretty astonishing rates.