You Can’t Read That!

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post about book banning and censorship. YCRT! features news and opinion roundups, commentary, history, and reviews.

YCRT! Statement

Sharing book banning and censorship news can be discouraging work — the bad guys are on a roll and until the public has had enough they’re not going to stop trying every trick in the book to control and limit information. But how will the public know it’s had enough if the good guys stop reminding them of what’s under attack?

We have to keep fighting. The tide will turn, eventually. It has to.

YCRT! News Roundup

I’m starting this roundup with news related to actions taken by the military and Department of Defense, my old bailiwick.

Pete Hegseth’s ‘Warrior Ethos’ Is Increasingly Focused on Banning Books (MSNBC)

The New York Times reported this week about the ongoing challenges at West Point, as the U.S. Military Academy struggles to comply with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s culture war agenda. Classes have been scrapped midsemester; works from well-known Black authors have been purged from the English department; a history professor was told not to mention atrocities committed against Native Americans; and another professor was told not to mention specific novelists whose work is out of step with Team Trump’s sensibilities.

How The ACLU Is Responding to Book Bans in US Military Schools (BookRiot)

The American Civil Liberties Union, along with the ACLU of Kentucky and the ACLU of Virginia, filed suit against DoDEA in March on behalf of six families with children in DoDEA schools. These families have children ranging from kindergarten to 11th grade in schools around the world.

What’s Included in the 596 Books Banned by the Department of Defense Education Activity? (BookRiot)

… the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) demanded the removal of hundreds of books from its schools across the globe. Materials included books that are out of alignment with the new administration’s “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” and “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” executive orders.

Naval Academy Settles on Shorter List of Banned Books as Pentagon Panel Weighs Ultimate Decision (Military.com)

According to a list of the 21 books ultimately pulled from the shelves that was reviewed by Military.com, the titles all deal with affirmative action programs, diversity and discrimination, and the experiences of transgender people. … In April, The New York Times reported the academy still had two copies of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto Mein Kampf on its shelves. That book was not among the 21 titles banned.

Now on to book-banning news from around the USA:

Karoline Leavitt Said the Library of Congress Had ‘Inappropriate Books for Children’ and Was Schooled Into Next Year (The Poke)

Because while the Library of Congress does many things, obviously, one thing it doesn’t do is lend out books to children.

Man Burns 100 Beachwood Public Library Books on Jewish, African American, LGBTQ+ Education: Report (19 News/Cleveland OH)

The Beachwood Police Department reported on May 2 the man checked out the hundred books from the Cuyahoga County Public Library Beachwood Branch, and posted a video of him burning the books on social media.

Is It Sex Education or Porn? Huntington Beach Comes to Blows over Library Books (LAist)

As complaints about obscene material being available to young readers dragged even the once-beloved library into the fray, the increasingly marginalized liberal residents of Huntington Beach have mobilized — and floundered. Not unlike the national Democratic Party, which has grappled with how to counteract the full-throttle early months of President Donald Trump’s second term, their struggle to curb the breakneck transformation of their city’s identity have left many wondering how far the council can push its revolution.

Hillsborough Superintendent Faces Backlash from Board, Public over Book Bans at Heated School Board Meeting (WMNF/Tampa FL)

“You did not engage with parents, you did not engage with our PTA, you did not engage with the union, you did not engage with your employees, you did not engage with your supervisors or your lead librarians. And I was not informed at all,” Combs said.

First They Came for Calvin & Hobbes, and We Peed on Them (Wonkette)

We’ll add that the list of banned books in Monroe County only provides titles and authors’ names, so we aren’t certain whether only the first, eponymous Calvin and Hobbes book (1987) was sent to the memory hole, or the entire series. It also doesn’t explain why books were removed, but if it’s just the first book, presumably the crime was this one interstitial drawing at the bottom of page 17.

Supreme Court Euthanizes ‘Pride Puppy’ (Wonkette)

Remember how Alito said that gay marriage was going to be the end of the world, and then everybody was going to be marrying the dogs and marrying the cats, and then that didn’t happen? And how he has been obsessed forever with the idea that some woke army is coming to oppress him, and that never happened either? Facts have never gotten in the way of his faith. Church and state, I now pronounce you married.

Challenges at Kentucky Libraries Rose 1000% Last Year, Mostly in Two Counties (Louisville Public Media)

“The greatest majority of Kentucky communities are very happy with the library services that their libraries provide and, even in the areas where they saw the uptick, it was either one family or small group making those challenges,” said Heather Dieffenbach, the current chair of the Kentucky Public Library Association and the executive director of the Lexington Public Library.

National Park Gift Shops Move to Ban ‘Corrosive’ History Books (Salon)

The National Park Service is flagging books in park gift shops that may go against Donald Trump’s efforts to purge so-called “corrosive ideology” from American history. According to internal records reviewed by the Washington Post, NPS employees were directed to report items that might run afoul of new regulations for review by last week. The directives come from a May 2025 order by Doug Burgum, United States Secretary of the Interior, entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”