Australia’s censors have resisted calls to restrict a gender and sexuality youth memoir after an anti-LGBTQIA+ activist complained to police.
On Tuesday, the Australian Classification Board classified non-binary author and cartoonist Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer: A Memoir as unrestricted with the rating “M (Mature) — Not Recommended for Readers Under 15 Years”.
The award-winning book has become one of the most banned books in America over its depictions of LGBTQIA+ sex and sexuality, including explicit illustrations and descriptions.
The classification was initiated after a campaign by Bernard Gaynor, a conservative activist who was kicked out of the Australian Defence Force over anti-gay social media comments. Nine News reported that Gaynor complained to police about Gender Queer and four other books on March 4, after Logan City Council kept the book available for loan at its library.
Subsequently, Queensland Police flagged the book with the federal Department of Communications, which oversees the classification board, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
In a petition signed by 1670 people calling for the book to be banned, Gaynor accused Gender Queer of being an “obscene publication” that “promotes and pornographically depicts” LGBTQIA+ sex acts, pornography, minors masturbating and sex toys.
The Australian Classification Board director Fiona Jolly said the board had considered the book within its literary, artistic and education merits when deciding that it should not be restricted.
“This publication can be accommodated in the Unrestricted classification as, within the context of the publication, the treatment of themes is not high in impact or offensive, and the treatment of sex and nudity is also not high in impact and is not exploitative, offensive, gratuitous or very detailed,” she said in a media release.
In its decision, the board noted that some may be offended by the book and that it may not be appropriate for younger readers.
Gender Queer faced being restricted to adults if it was deemed as being in categories 1, 2 or had been refused classification. The Albanese government last month released a review of Australia’s classification system, which recommended a number of changes including making it easier for publishers to self-classify content and ending a refusal to classify fetish content.
Gaynor has been approached for comment.
