Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, believes that the recent wave of book bans sweeping the country are "castrating" American children.
A recent conservative movement has sought to strip books with LGBTQ+ or racial themes from public schools. In Florida, books have been completely removed in several school districts while they undergo a content review process. In Utah, a system was created to allow parents to submit complaints over material in libraries or classrooms.
In an interview with MSNBC, Moore told host Jen Psaki that he vehemently disagrees with the restrictions being pushed in Republican-controlled states.
“I continue hearing people making the argument that we’re doing it because we want to we want to prevent our students from having discomfort or guilt,” he said. “Because we don’t want our students to be able to really wrestle with these really difficult things in times when they are maturing as individuals and difficult historical points."
To Moore, sparing children from feeling "guilt" is nothing more than a farce. He continued to say he doesn't believe in narratives centered around protecting children, and that those pushing them are more concerned with something else.
"But the thing I realized and I wanted to speak out about is that’s actually not true. It’s a guise," he continued. "It’s not about making kids feel uncomfortable. It’s about telling other kids that they shouldn’t understand their own power. It’s castrating them.”
Book bans were implemented in record numbers in 2022, and continue to climb in 2023. The most-banned book of last year was Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel Gender Queer.
Recently, Illinois became the first state to ban book bans, preventing funding from going to libraries or schools who restrict access to books. Moore did not say whether or not Maryland lawmakers are considering a similar measure, but his comments signal the state is unlikely to to begin censoring information while under Democratic control.
