NEW YORK (AP) — Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir “Gender Queer” continues its troubled run as the country’s most controversial book, topping the American Library Association’s “challenged books” list for a third straight year.
Kobabe’s coming-of-age story was published in 2019, and received the library association’s Alex Award for best young adult literature. But it has since been at the heart of debates over library content, with conservative organizations such as Moms for Liberty contending that parents should have more power to determine what books are available. Politicians have condemned “Gender Queer” and school systems in Florida, Texas and elsewhere have banned it. Last December, police in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, responded to a complaint from a custodian about the book by showing up and searching for it in an 8th grade classroom.
The ALA released its list Monday, along with its annual State of America’s Libraries Report.
“A few advocacy groups have made 'Gender Queer' a lightning rod,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. ”People are trying to shut down conversation about gender identity."
Many books on the ALA’s top 10 snapshot had LGBTQ themes, including the four works immediately following “Gender Queer”: George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” Juno Dawson’s “This Book is Gay,” Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and Mike Curato’s “Flamer.” The list’s other five books all were cited for being sexually explicit: Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Ellen Hopkins’ “Tricks,” Jesse Andrews “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan’s “Let’s Talk About It” and Patricia McCormick’s “Sold.”
“These books are beyond the pale for some people simply because they touch upon sex,” Caldwell-Stone says.
In March, the ALA reported that bans and attempted bans in 2023 again reached record highs since the association began tracking complaints in the early 2000s. More than 4,240 works in school and public libraries were targeted, compared to a then-record 2,571 books in 2022.
Many of the books challenged — 47% — have LGBTQ and racial themes.
The ALA defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.” The association bases its findings on media accounts and reports from librarians but has long believed that many challenges go uncounted, or that some books are pulled by librarians in anticipation of protests.
FILE - Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Kabobe’s graphic memoir “Gender Queer” continues its troubled run as the country’s most controversial book, topping the American Library Association’s “challenged books” list for a third straight year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Attention all you fashionistas: It's Met Gala time. Yes, the first Monday in May is upon us.
Looking to follow along? Here's a quick primer on what you need to know about the palooza of A-list celebrities from film, fashion, music, sports, politics and social media.
That's tricky. Vogue has the exclusive livestream, which starts at 6 p.m. Eastern at Vogue.com. The feed will also be available on Vogue's digital platforms, including TikTok and YouTube.
Tons of other media will be on site, too. Catch the action on E!, also starting at 6 p.m., with livestreams on X, TikTok, Instagram and Peacock.
The Associated Press will be live outside the Mark Hotel, where many celebs get ready before heading to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their walk up the grand staircase. That livestream will begin at 4:45 p.m. Eastern and will be available on YouTube and APNews.com.
Only the event's stacked red carpet is watchable — the gala's cocktail hour and dinner are notoriously private events.
It's a party, for sure, with cocktails and dinner for about invited 400 guests, but it's also a huge fundraiser for the Met's Costume Institute, the only department at the museum required to pay for itself. Last year, the gala raised about $22 million. Anna Wintour, a Met trustee for whom part of the institute has been renamed, organizes the whole shebang. No phones are allowed, adding to the allure.
There's a dress code each year tied to the museum's spring exhibition. Some guests, not all, step up at the request of Wintour. This year's theme is “The Garden of Time,” inspired by J.G. Ballard's 1962 short story of the same name. It's a squishy fashion ask considering how specific last year's theme was: all things Karl Lagerfeld. Florals, and more florals, are expected this time around. Vintage will likely be big, too.
It's called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” But we're not talking fairytales or Disney princesses. It includes 250 items from The Costume Institute’s permanent collection, including some garments very rarely seen in public and so fragile they need to be under glass. Curators wanted to engage all the senses, including smell. They worked with a “smell artist.” And there's a garment that actually grows. Part of the idea is to pay tribute to the natural world. The exhibit opens to the public Friday and runs through Sept. 2.
Getting called up by Wintour as a co-chair is a big deal. This year's class is Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth. It's Hemsworth's first Met Gala. Shou Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok, and Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, are honorary chairs. The companies are also gala and exhibition sponsors.
Who attends is top secret but Rihanna has spilled she'll be there. She'll likely be accompanied by her partner A$AP Rocky. Other high-profile partners likely to attend, because their significant others are hosting: Ben Affleck and Tom Holland. Lily Gladstone has said she’ll attend. Who we want to see: Ayo Edebiri.Taylor Swift is looking like a no, and her boyfriend Travis Kelce will definitely not be there. Dua Lipa is going.
Follow the AP’s Met Gala coverage, including live updates and live video, at https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala
FILE - Bad Bunny attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" exhibition on May 2, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition on May 7, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Jennifer Lopez attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" exhibition on May 1, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between exhibition on May 1, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Rihanna attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" exhibition on May 1, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibition on May 6, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
