Evan Dorkin

Beasts of Burden Banned By Missouri School Board

Added 2022-11-16 20:22:50 +0000 UTC

Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites is on a list of books and graphic novels banned in Missouri schools in the wake of a law regarding material deemed "harmful to minors". Books are being pulled for fear of crossing the vague and subjective line of what is deemed "harmful", a broad range covering LGBTQ+ issues, holocaust memoirs, classical art studies and even a graphic novel adaptation of the Bible. Authors on the list include Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Alison Bechdel. The PEN literary organization released an explainer of the situation and opposition to the ban, which you can read here:

https://pen.org/spiegelman-atwood-sign-pen-america-letter-against-missouri-book-bans

You can see the list of banned books here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AVW8q-B4uSZIJ3mLqc5tY8DZyojI1KLIVBQzSCb7lbg

I've signed the authors list, and have reached out to other comics creators whose work is on the list (I was originally contacted by Derf Backderf, whose work is also on the list, who put me in touch with Jonathan Friedman at PEN, who is spearheading the response. You can follow the situation at Friedman's twitter: https://twitter.com/jonfreadom/status/1592934405550780417

And you can add your name to the authors by signing the public protest here:

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-missouri-schools-to-reverse-overzealous-book-bans

Thanks.