By Sarah Goodman Duffy
I have lived next to military bases my whole life. I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, near the United States Naval Academy on the Chesapeake Bay. I went to school with the kids of Navy personnel. We would have classes together for two years before their parents were stationed somewhere else. At college, I lived down the street from the Coast Guard Academy at Connecticut College. There is a long history of Coast Guard cadets and Connecticut College students dating. When the cadet boyfriends of my friends come to campus, they’re always overwhelmed by the lack of restrictions. On the Coast Guard campus, they have limited access to the outside world, internet, and most importantly books.
The restriction to information is not exclusive to the military academies. There are 161 K-12 schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA), which recently pulled 596 books from their libraries. The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the DODEA on behalf of 12 students in DODEA schools who argue the ban violates their first amendment rights. The list of nearly 600 books they’re trying to remove includes titles that explore “gender ideology” or “divisive equity ideology.” The DODEA’s argument for pulling books from the shelves is that they promote “un-American ideals,” which is to say that they seek to erase the existence and contributions of BIPOC and LGBTQIA people throughout U.S. history. Ironically, one of the books that is still on shelves (as of right now) is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, which makes the point that when we aren’t able to see ourselves reflected in society, we start to doubt our own existence. Eliminating representation doesn’t eliminate the people who already exist.
Many of the banned books included on the DODEA are also featured on the Social Justice Book’s Recommended Banned Books list and / or on the LGBTQ+ booklist. These books thoughtfully explore themes of marginalization, difference, and queerness. The Heartstopper series by Alice Osman is one I recommend because of my own experience as a Queer person. Gender Queer, by Maiai Kobabe, is another iconic graphic novel that interrogates the gender binary. And When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff is a book that I helped send out across the country for Teach Truth Day of Action. While they’re only a fraction of the number of books on the list, they all deserve to be on bookshelves.
Books Banned by the DODEA that Teaching for Change Recommends
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff
The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone by Heather McGhee
Heartstopper by Alice Osman
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Sarah Goodman Duffy served as a summer 2025 intern with Teaching for Change as a rising senior at Connecticut College, where she is double majoring in educational studies and art. When she’s not working she can usually be found at a local coffee joint, drawing people on the Metro, or reading books by or about Queer people.
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