Censorship efforts continue
Fighting back against the attacks on diverse and inclusive books Preschooler Heather is no stranger to opposition. Lesléa Newman’s 1989 Heather Has Two Mommies, the first picture book to depict happily coupled same-sex parents and their child, has faced opprobrium from conservatives since shortly after it was published.
Now, it is one of a record number of other books for children and teens, largely about people with marginalized identities, that are under attack across the country.
In 1992, Heather and Michael Willhoite’s Daddy’s Roommate (1990) were used as examples of “the militant homosexual agenda” by an Oregon group campaigning to allow anti-gay discrimination.
The same year, both books were part of a proposed “Rainbow Curriculum” in New York City about respecting all types of families, but both were removed in the face of hostility.
