‘It’s just filth:’ Banned books and the project of queer erasure

• In Event: Queering Gender & Sexuality Studies: Controversy and Erasure in Education

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the connection between the banning of queer books, the creation of discourses of controversy, and the erasure of queer knowledges and peoples from schools. Using a queer theory-informed approach to critical discourse analysis, we ask how these proposed bans seek to erase queer peoples, how this impacts teachers, and what teacher preparation programs can do to counter these acts of destruction.

Authors

• Caitlin O'Loughlin, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

• Taylor Schmidt, UNC-Chapel Hill

• Jocelyn Glazier, UNC-Chapel Hill