censorship: Last News

Two San Diego residents checked out nearly every single book in their library’s Pride Month display, claiming that such materials shouldn’t be available to children.Across the nation, conservative groups have pushed to ban books that discuss LGBTQ issues from libraries and schools, often arguing that they are pornographic or obscene merely because they depict LGBTQ identity.This attempt to stoke culture-war flames in San Diego backfired, according to The New York Times, ending with an outpouring of community support for the library in the form of increased monetary and book donations. As soon as The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the protest, new copies of the checked-out books began to arrive at the library.

A nontheist advocacy organization is demanding that the Bible be banned from schools in a Florida school district, using the same justification that has been used to censor other literary works.Christopher Line, a staff attorney for church and state separation watchdog Freedom From Religion Foundation, formally requested the Bible be removed from library shelves in Leon County schools after the district pulled several other titles for mentioning sexual assault. The books that were banned include Dead End by Jason Myer, Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk, Lucky by Alice Sebold, Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, and Push by Sapphire.

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FILM “OPPENHEIMER.”A sex scene in the highly anticipated drama “Oppenheimer” is being slammed by Indian officials who claim the scene is “a scathing attack on Hinduism.” The biographical drama tells the story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer as he and a group of scientists rush to complete the infamous Manhattan Project, which culminated with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6, 1945.In the film, Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, 47) and Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh, 27) are engaged in sexual intercourse until Jean walks over to a bookshelf and grabs a copy of “Bhagavad Gita” and asks Murphy to read from it.“Oppy” then reads the line, “I am become Death, destroyer of worlds,” as the duo resumes sexual intercourse.

a ban on transgender athletes last year.The most prominent of the bills is a measure to ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming treatments meant to treat gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers, hormones, or surgical interventions, the latter of which are rarely performed on minors.The ban on gender-affirming care appeared to be dead last month after Sen. Fred Mills (R-New Iberia, the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, voted with Democrats to reject the bill when it came before the committee.  Mills said that his decision had been heavily influenced by a 2022 Louisiana Health Department study on gender-affirming health care.It found that no gender-affirming surgical procedures had been performed on any minors enrolled in Medicaid in the state between 2017 and 2021, and that hormone and puberty blockers were rarely prescribed to transgender-identifying minors in Louisiana during that same period. National conservative pundits — who have deemed opposition to LGBTQ visibility, transgender rights, and “wokeness” as essential to their party’s brand — were outraged at Mills’ defection, and promised political retribution.Mills’ fellow Republicans caved to pressure from those voices to revive the bill.Senators then used a rare procedural maneuver to recommit the bill to a different committee, allowing it to pass on a 29-10 vote, reports the Associated Press.The bill now heads back to the House, which previously overwhelmingly approved the ban on gender-affirming care.

bar them from participating in some school activities — or will shame students who are being raised by same-sex parents.“This policy will escalate the government censorship sweeping our state, exacerbate our educator exodus, drive hardworking families from Florida, and further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support now more than ever,” Equality Florida, the state’s top LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement posted to Twitter.“Shame on the DeSantis Administration for putting a target on the backs of LGBTQ Floridians.”The new rule will take effect in one month after it goes through a procedural comment period, according to The Associated Press.The law’s expansion marks the latest move by the DeSantis administration targeting the LGBTQ community as the two-term governor seeks to elevate himself as a potential presidential contender in 2024.

latest label that was just added before Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel “Gone With The Wind.”It says that the old book, which was made into a huge 1939 movie, amounts to a “romanticization of a shocking era in our history and the horrors of slavery.” Um, duh! It’s a Civil War story that’s pro-Confederacy.A more useful trigger warning I’d throw in front of “Gone With The Wind,” however, is: “This book is 1,472 pages long.” In fact, books, movies and TV shows almost never begin with a trigger warning that could actually help me make a decision. Here are some I’d like to see.Trigger Warning: You will never be able to afford this beautiful homeEvery flippin’ Nancy Meyers movie (“It’s Complicated,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” “The Holiday”) has a stunningly gorgeous Hamptons or California home where wealthy, relaxed Ina Garten-types drink red wine on beige couches that miraculously never stain.

maligned by many, the notorious Roald Dahl word purge could prove a boon to one segment of society: the owners of the original books. “Unedited” versions of the classic children’s novels have reportedly been listed for as much as $7,000 on eBay.This comes after the news broke that Puffin Books — a Penguin Books imprint for children — had tapped so-called sensitivity experts to scrub language they deemed offensive in an effort to appease the “woke” masses.

believed to have allowed — their trans-identifying children to access gender-affirming medical treatments. In one Orwellian example, a transgender eighth grader was pulled from class by state child welfare agency officials and grilled for an hour about their identity, home life, and gender dysphoria — all without informing his parents.In Florida, Republicans are best known for having pushed the state’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, dubbed by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits discussions of LGBTQ content in primary grades, and only permits discussion in secondary grades if the content is considered “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The law has been blamed for censorship of textbooks, as well as efforts to ban books that are not currently being used as part of in-class lesson plans but deal with LGBTQ content — either directly or tangentially — from school libraries.Some students claim that they’ve had their free speech rights censored or have been barred from certain school activities due to their pro-LGBTQ advocacy, with teachers and administrators citing the law’s provisions as justification.

scrubbed from iconic movie posters for Robert Altman’s “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” as well as “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.”In the photoshopped posters, stars Warren Beatty and Paul Newman no longer hold cigarettes between their fingers but instead appear to be posing — bizarrely — with digits raised, staring off into the distance. One irritated cinephile slammed the streaming service, which is known for hits like “Game of Thrones,” its prequel, “House of Dragon,” and “Succession,” tweeting: “No Smoking! Twitter users report HBO Max removed Warren Beatty’s and Paul Newman’s cigars from movie poster art used on its home page: McCabe & Mrs.

death of Queen Elizabeth II — and viewers are blasting the choice on Twitter.Oliver, 45, opened the HBO show — which took home two 2022 Emmys at Monday night’s awards ceremony — with a joke about the President of Chile, and then said: “But obviously, we need to start with the UK, which is clearly still reeling from the shocking death of a 96-year-old woman from natural causes.”The British comedian went on to joke about the bizarre group of people who paid tribute to the Queen.“It is a big moment which for some reason absolutely everyone felt that they had to weigh in on from Crazy Frog, which tweeted out ‘RIP the Queen’ [and a] candle emoji…to Dominos UK which posted, ‘Everyone at Domino’s joins the nation and the world in mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts and condolences are with the Royal Family.’”“Which I guess is nice although if the world is mourning they should maybe tell the US Domino’s account whose most recent tweet as of this taping is ‘if ur reading this it means u need pizza like to confirm.’” Oliver continued.

MTV Video Music Awards performance. Frontman Damiano David donned backless chops for their live rendition of “Supermodel,” which may have been too much even for the anything-goes award show.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” were in for a surprise after the ending was altered to have Gru, the main villain of the Illumination franchise, turned from an evil man to a good dude.The Chinese version of the animated film has an array of post-credit scenes in which a variety of subtitles say Gru “eventually became one of the good guys” who was “dedicated to raising his family.”In the United States, viewers find out how Gru tricked the police and learned to defeat his enemies to become the ultimate villain.Since “Minions” takes place before the “Despicable Me” series, Gru is not supposed to be the hero.Other post-credit scenes also feature the cops arresting Gru’s mentor, Wild Knuckles.In the Chinese adaptation, though, the police are not deceived and instead apprehend Knuckles, who is later jailed for two decades for his crimes.

The Collier County School District has placed advisory notices on both online and physical copies of the books in response to parental concerns about their content.The advisory states: “This book has been identified by some community members as unsuitable for students,” and adds that the decision of whether or not a book is suitable should be determined by a student’s parents.Although it does not prevent students from checking out certain titles from Collier County’s libraries, the advisory is visible to parents, who can choose to monitor the books their children have taken through an online portal provided by the district.The books that have been flagged include works with LGBTQ characters, especially transgender characters, books dealing with race or racism, books that contain sexual content, and even picture books for children dealing with potentially controversial issues.At least 62 of the 115 flagged books have LGBTQ or transgender characters or themes, while nearly one-third have protagonists or secondary characters of color, reports the Naples Daily News. (The full list of books appears at the bottom of this post.)The district says the advisories were placed on the books in February and March, in order to comply with the state’s Parental Bill of Rights law.

Her channel now boasts more than 7 million subscribers and 2 billion views, but Lee says she struggles to make decent money on YouTube because the site insists her content is “too graphic” — an assessment she called “subjective” to Business Insider.A YouTuber’s value is based on their view count, according to Influencer Marketing Hub’s estimates, who said that for every 1,000 views Lee gets on her videos, she should earn between $3 and $5 — which means she would have earned between $6 and $10 million from her 2 billion views in total.YouTube policy states that any content creators who post “graphic or violent content” risk having their videos removed and, in extreme cases, their account revoked. This includes “footage or imagery showing bodily fluids, such as blood or vomit, with the intent to shock or disgust viewers,” which may fit the description for some of Lee’s content.

Film production company Warner Brothers has doubled down in support of author J.K. Rowling after Harry Potter actor Tom Felton was told not to discuss her past transphobic remarks.Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the eight-part Harry Potter movie series, was on hand to promote the opening of Professor Sprout’s greenhouse at Warner Bros.

WFTV. A representative for Orange County Public Schools confirmed that district officials held three separate seminars at Apopka High School last week, but disputed the content of the seminars, arguing that the advice provided in the session was not official guidance, but was simply meant to illustrate examples of how the law might be applied.“During the presentation, administrators posed hypothetical scenarios based upon the new statutes and verbal answers were provided based on the limited guidance from the Florida Department of Education,” the spokesman said. “Once further guidance is received from the Florida Department of Education, the district will provide formal guidance to administrators and staff.”A separate OCPS official told WFTV that the district needed to err on the side of caution until the Department of Education develops official guidance.

The man named Kentucky’s 2022 Teacher of the Year has quit his teaching position, citing anti-gay discrimination as one of the reasons for his defection.Willie Carver, Jr., an English teacher at Montgomery County High School in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, for the past 17 years, announced in an interview with the Lexington-Herald Leader that he would be taking a job with the University of Kentucky’s Office of Student Support Services.Carver attributed his decision to leave to his frustration “facing discrimination, heartache, and being a part of systems that cause harm” during his years as a public school teacher.

MTG Live podcast about Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has become a hero to conservatives for his opposition to political correctness, COVID-19-related shutdowns, and “cancel culture,” including the alleged (but not actual) suppression of conservative voices on social media platforms. Musk, who is poised to buy the social media giant Twitter — a development that some conservatives believe will usher in new policies protecting “free speech” — was previously accused by a female flight attendant of SpaceX, Musk’s space transportation firm, of exposing his genitalia to her, rubbing her leg, and offering to buy her a horse if she performed a sexual act for him. According to Business Insider, documents show Musk later paid the woman $250,000 as part of a severance agreement in 2018. Greene, who has embraced various conspiracy theories during her short political career, and is no stranger to inflammatory comments, claimed that breaking news about the past accusations of sexual harassment is a political attack against the billionaire, and complained that conservatives like Musk and former President Donald Trump often get accused of sexual misconduct.“If anyone was a Democrat steps out of line because they’ve decided they can’t go along with the horrible, disgusting, and failing ways of the Democrats, and they actually see the light, see the truth… They go, you know, I’m going to try voting Republican because these people over here make sense,” Greene said.

heavily-censored nation were able to tune-in to the two-weekend festival in Indio, California via the app WeChat, including the 27-year-old rapper’s performance on Saturday evening.In a farcical attempt to adhere to community standards on the Chinese social networking app, moderators used a floating black box to cover Megan and her dancers’ butts, but failed to keep up with their gymnastic twerking. Footage pulled from WeChat shows the black box wildly bounced from side to side and confused viewers as to what exactly they were trying to censor. The restricted livestream took further liberties with the lyrics of “WAP,” Megan’s acronymic 2021 hit featuring Cardi B, remixing the X-rated phrase to “Wet Ass Puxi,” in reference to the district of Shanghai that is currently under lockdown amid a new surge of COVID-19.The Grammy-winning artist also performed fan favorites including “Savage,” “To Whom the F–k It May Concern” and “Sweetest Pie.”Fans mocked the suppression snafu on Twitter.

first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, takes out six seconds of the film in which Dumbledore utters the lines “I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love.”The film’s total run time is 143 minutes.“As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson told THR.“Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.” The spokesperson added: “In the case of ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,’ a six-second cut was requested and Warner Bros.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, agreed to edit out two references to same-sex relationships from the film following demands from Chinese government censors.The censored dialogue, the removal of which ensured that the government would allow the film to be released to the public, occurs during a scene between main characters Albus Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, and Gellert Grindelwald, played by Mads Mikkelsen.The lines, which amounted to six seconds in total, were “…because I was in love with you” and “The summer Gellert and I fell in love,” reports the South China Morning Post.In 2007, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, declared that Dumbledore, who became the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry later in life, is gay, although he was never referenced as such in the books.Dumbledore’s sexual orientation was subsequently hinted at in the first two Fantastic Beasts films — which serve as prequels to the Harry Potter films — but it’s not until The Secrets of Dumbledore that the character’s sexuality if fully acknowledged on screen.