Banned Books 2023 – Sex is a Funny Word

Marshall University does not ban books! The information is provided to let people know what has been banned/challenged elsewhere.

2023

On August 17, members of the groups Idaho Liberty Dogs and Concerned Citizens of Meridian spoke out against It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris and Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg during the public comments of the Meridian District Library’s board meeting. They referred to the developmentally-appropriate sex education materials as “smut-filled pornography” and claimed it was “time to defund the Meridian Library Tax District.” Both titles remain available throughout the library system.

2020

Challenged, banned, and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for discussing gender identity and sex education, and for concerns that the title and illustrations were “inappropriate.”

2018

Retained but relocated after an outraged social media post with a picture of the book included in a new book display at the Athens-Limestone (AL) Public Library. The book was taken from the display and relocated in the juvenile non-fiction.

On These Pages

A Banned book has been removed from a library, classroom, etc.
A Challenged book has been requested to be removed from a library, classroom, etc.

For additional information contact

Ron Titus, titus@marshall.edu
304-696-6575

Last updated

August 21, 2023