Growing up queer, Peter was told that he was “possessed by demons and Satan,” he said, and his family almost put him through conversion therapy. Later, he was discharged from U.S. Air Force basic training under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

“So if you think about it, major institutions, family, military, faith, you know, all [didn’t make] me feel comfortable in terms of who I was,” he said. 

“It’s pretty daunting and it’s taken me a really long time to get to a place where I feel comfortable and secure,” Yacobellis said. Today, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his fiancé Benjamin.

Yacobellis is also an activist for LGBTQ rights and has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about discrimination towards the LGBTQ community and provide support for youth. So when Yacobellis found out that several public libraries in New Jersey were attempting to censor books containing LGBTQ themes, he was enraged. He believes that books are a way for readers to identify with unfamiliar experiences because reading about characters who go through similar struggles can be comforting and reassuring. Many people today, especially teenagers, find themselves relating to characters they read about, which makes it essential to have inclusivity and representation in books.

However, learning about topics such as race and sexuality causes controversy in schools when traditional school boards are pitted against progressive activists. For example, Florida effectively banned AP African American Studies and debate continues about AP Psychology. In July, public libraries in the towns of Cedar Grove and Glen Ridge in New Jersey attempted to censor books containing LGBTQ content. While book bans are not a new occurrence, there is a difference between “book banning” and “book censoring,” said Elyla Huertas, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey. According to Huertas, “censoring” differs from “banning” because it does not remove a book; it simply limits who has access to it. 

The First Amendment grants the freedom of speech and expression, so while an author could attempt to sue a library board for banning their book, there are fewer legal avenues if their book is merely being moved to a different section. 

The First Amendment has a “right to receive information” clause, which means that everyone has the right to express themselves, but they also have the right to refuse to listen to someone else’s expression. Under this clause, a library can move a book to a different section while keeping it in the library.

This is the loophole that public libraries in Cedar Grove and Glen Ridge used to censor Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe and other books containing LGBTQ content. The libraries moved these books from the young adult to the adult section, meaning that a teen who wants to check such a book out would have to ask for permission from the librarian and face the likelihood of being turned down. 

“This impacts LGBTQ teenagers because the right to access information is completely nullified here,” said Huertas. There is already a lot of stigma surrounding the LGBTQ community, and Huertas is worried that censoring such books would make LGBTQ teens feel like it is wrong to have a different identity. 

“They’re hearing folks say that [these books] are not appropriate and that their experience is therefore not appropriate for other people to read about and that I think is a really dangerous thing to hear over and over again,” Huertas said.

Yacobellis also explained there are different standards for book censorship. He described how, for example, a romance novel featuring queer leads is more likely to be censored than a romance book with heteronormative content.  

“One of my biggest concerns is that it ends up pushing kids back into the closet and enables people to be bullied and to struggle with their identity,” said Yacobellis. He went on to describe that LGBTQ youth who don’t receive support often end up abusing substances and committing suicide. 

Since there are limited legal routes to take in this situation, Huertas believes that the best way to fight book censorship is through a community-driven effort. Most librarians are trained to determine which books and themes are appropriate for different age levels, and Huertas encourages parents and children to ask them questions. She also recommends looking for guidelines on the library’s website to understand the process of book censoring. 

The library’s board of trustees usually has control over the review process, so Huertas explained that making an appeal to the board could make them re-evaluate and change their decision. This is how Yacobellis was able to prevent book censorship in Cedar Grove and Glen Ridge.

“You want to have a conversation with a family member or friend to get the book out for you while you work on the bigger issue of trying to get the book uncensored,” said Yacobellis. 

“Digital is your friend. When Gender Queer was banned, I wanted to read it and I downloaded it on my phone.” These are some of many ways to fight book censorship at the local level while officials try to find legal grounds to build cases, Yacobellis added.

It is also an opportunity to bring the community together because books and literature have the power to shape young minds, said Huertas. “It is important that the youth today feel comfortable in who they are because they are our future.”