Alberta Protects Children from Books — But Not That Book

Jul 11, 2025

TW: This article contains graphic content about sexual assault as depicted in that book.

In a bold move to shield the delicate eyes of Alberta’s children, the provincial government has issued a ministerial order banning books with “explicit sexual content” from school libraries. This crusade — I’m going to call it what it is — was born out of pressure from Judeo-Christian activists who, presumably, have not actually read the book they most revere.

Because here’s the punchline: the Bible is still allowed.

Yes, the Bible — a book that opens with nudity, moves swiftly into fratricide, lingers on incest, contains several rapes, and ends with an apocalyptic bloodbath — is apparently safe for children. Meanwhile, books that affirm queer kids or teach consent or discuss healthy sexuality are apparently far too dangerous.

Let’s take a little tour of what isn’t being banned.

open book — Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Genesis 19: Lot offers his two daughters to a violent mob of men so they don’t rape his house guests.
Judges 19: A woman is gang-raped and dies, after which her husband cuts her body into twelve pieces.
Song of Songs: A steamy, very detailed erotic poem, heavy on metaphor, but unmistakable.
David & Bathsheba: Voyeurism, adultery, and a cover-up murder.

But don’t worry, kids. That’s just scripture.

The ministerial order, of course, claims this is “about the children.” But keeping the Bible in school libraries while banning books that reflect 2SLGBTQIA+ lives or teach about healthy, consensual sexuality makes clear who this is really about. Not the children — but the parents and activists who can’t abide the idea of kids learning about people different from them.

And to be honest, if the goal is to protect children from depictions of sexual assault, violence, and moral ambiguity, the Bible should’ve been the first book on the chopping block.

Of course, that would upset the base.

So who is this ban really protecting? Not the children, who are left with shelves full of hypocrisy. Not the librarians, who now have to play moral police. Not the queer kids, who will see even more of themselves erased.

It seems to protect only the comfort of adults who demand the world conform to their contradictions: who clutch pearls at a book about two boys holding hands while thumping their leather-bound copy of Judges with the other.

If Alberta truly wants to cleanse school libraries of sexually explicit and violent content, I’d like to humbly propose a first step: open to Genesis 19. Or Judges 19. Or almost any page of the Good Book, really. We read them in Bible study when I was a kid. It made me think this violence was normal.

But we know they won’t. Because this isn’t about keeping kids “pure.” It’s about keeping them ignorant — of themselves, of others, of the world around them.

And that, unfortunately, is the most explicit content of all.

You can sign a petition here to get the Bible banned from school libraries.