When we think of banned books, most people’s minds jump to classics like To Kill a Mockingbird or 1984. But if you’ve been keeping up with the current wave of book bans, you’ll notice a new name more than any other: Maia Kobabe.
Yes, that’s the most banned author in the U.S. right now.
According to PEN America’s 2023 report, Kobabe’s graphic memoir Gender Queer topped the list for the third year in a row as the most frequently challenged and banned book in schools and libraries. The memoir has become a powerful symbol in the fight for visibility, and it’s also become a major target.
So, how did one deeply personal memoir about identity and growing up become public enemy number one in the eyes of certain parents, school boards, and lawmakers? And what does this say about what kinds of stories are seen as “acceptable” in public education?
Let’s dig in.
Who is Maia Kobabe?
Maia Kobabe (pronounced “co-BABE”) is a nonbinary and queer author and illustrator who uses e/em/eir pronouns (but also accepts they/them). Gender Queer, their debut book, was originally published in 2019 as a way to explain eir experience of gender identity and sexuality, particularly to family members. It evolved into a full-length graphic memoir that has helped thousands of readers feel seen.
Told through comics and illustrations, the book is a vulnerable, often quiet meditation on growing up, finding language for identity, and carving out space for visibility in a world that doesn’t always make room for it. And that’s precisely what has made it so controversial.
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Why Is Gender Queer Being Banned?
The short version: people are scared of what they don’t understand. And anything that centers queerness or gender nonconformity is being politicized at warp speed.
Gender Queer has been accused of being “pornographic” or “inappropriate” for school libraries, but those accusations tend to focus on just a few panels, often taken wildly out of context. These are scenes that deal with puberty, sexual orientation, or early sexual exploration, all of which are presented in a thoughtful, non-sensational way.
The truth is, Gender Queer is a memoir. It’s educational. It’s healing. And for many LGBTQ+ teens, it’s the first time they’ve seen their own experiences portrayed on the page. That’s the power of visibility, and that’s what opponents are trying to erase.
The visual format doesn’t help in this case, either. Graphic novels, even memoirs like this one, are often judged more harshly because pictures are mistakenly seen as more explicit than prose.
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Kobabe Isn’t Alone: Other Most-Banned Authors
While Maia Kobabe holds the top spot, they are far from the only author being targeted in the current censorship wave. A few others with multiple titles on banned lists include:
- George M. Johnson – All Boys Aren’t Blue, another queer memoir, is frequently banned for similar reasons: honest conversations about gender, sexuality, and family. Johnson writes with rawness and intention, offering visibility for Black queer youth.
- Toni Morrison – Yes, the Nobel Prize-winning author. Books like The Bluest Eye and Beloved are often challenged due to depictions of racism, trauma, and sexual violence. Morrison’s work demands emotional labor and offers critical visibility into America’s racial history.
- Jonathan Evison – Lawn Boy, a semi-autobiographical novel exploring class, identity, and sexuality, has been removed from numerous school libraries despite being written for adults and older teens.
- Ashley Hope Pérez – Out of Darkness, a historical YA novel, has been banned for its depictions of racism and sexual violence. Pérez has spoken openly about the danger of removing stories that give visibility to marginalized experiences.
In all of these cases, books are being pulled not just for their content, but for who and what they represent.
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletterKobabe’s Response
Instead of shying away from the spotlight, Maia Kobabe has responded with grace and clarity. In interviews, they have stressed how crucial visibility is for young people exploring their identity.
I wrote this book for people like me—young people who are trying to figure themselves out. It’s heartbreaking to see it turned into something shameful.
Kobabe’s message is simple: queer stories deserve to be told. And young readers deserve access to them.
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The Bigger Picture: Why Visibility Matters
Here’s the thing: banning books doesn’t make hard topics disappear. It just removes opportunities for learning, for empathy, for growth. When school boards strip shelves of books like Gender Queer, what they’re really doing is denying students the chance to see themselves, or to understand others, on the page.
And that denial hits hardest for queer, trans, and BIPOC youth, who already face systemic erasure in so many other parts of life. Visibility in books can be a lifeline. It can be the difference between feeling alone and feeling seen.
Maia Kobabe didn’t set out to become the face of the book banning debate. But in sharing their truth, they have sparked a national conversation about censorship, queerness, and the power of visibility.
Whether or not you relate to Gender Queer personally, the right to read it, and books like it, should matter to all of us. Because of the fight to ban these stories? It’s really a fight over who gets to exist in public. Who gets to be visible. And who gets to be heard.
