Book publishers are slowing down their acquisitions of LGBTQ2S+ titles in response to spikes in book bans across the country, according to a new report from The Hill.
Queer books in children’s and young adult age groups are among the most targeted, with editors and authors telling the publication that they have seen lower sales due to book bans and a growing moral panic about DEI and the “indoctrination” of young people.
The banning of queer books has been a growing trend since Trump’s first term, but it’s skyrocketed in recent years—particularly in the case of books for young readers. PEN America, which has tracked book bans in the states since 2021, identified more than 10,000 book bans during the 2023-2024 school year.
In 2024, the American Library Association found that more than half of the most-challenged books in schools and public libraries from the previous year were written by LGBTQ2S+ authors and people of colour, like Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer and George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue.
Authors say they are noticing sizable changes: from an increase in rejections due to the current climate, to significant decreases in royalties, to queer themes and language being taken out of announcements in places like Publishers Weekly to avoid being targeted.
While some booksellers say they are seeing steady sales and even excitement toward supporting banned books, authors and industry professionals are worried about what will happen if this trend continues throughout Trump’s second term.
Why you can trust Xtra
