MSNBC’s Ali Velshi presents us with two sobering and hatefully contradictory statistics: According to PEN America, a non-profit dedicated to the freedom to read and write, 26 percent of all of the literature removed from public school libraries last year featured LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The Trevor Project, the leading crisis intervention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ people, says one LGBTQ+ young person between the ages of 13 and 24 attempts suicide every 45 seconds.

In this edition of Velshi Banned Book Club, we focus not on a singular book but on the impact of banned literature about this vulnerable community. Velshi sits down with Brian Bond, CEO of PFLAG, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ support and advocacy organization, to talk about why access to LGBTQ+ books is an essential human right and to deny that access is a direct attack meant to do harm. 

“We need to see ourselves. And that allows people to know, at the end of the day, they’re going to be ok, they’re gonna get through this,” explains Bond. “This literally is about saving lives.”

Listen to Velshi and Brian Bond on LGBTQ+ books:

Watch Velshi’s interview with Bond:

Velshi on banned books on MSNBC:

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