In a move that has sent chills through the queer community and beyond, Kent County Council has stripped trans-themed books from the children’s sections of all its libraries — all in the name of “child protection.”
The decision, loudly championed on social media by council leader Linden Kemkaran, comes just weeks after Reform UK seized control of the council. The right-wing party, infamous for its hostility toward immigrants and LGBTQ+ communities, is now flexing its cultural war muscles on public library shelves. According to Kemkaran, her cabinet colleague Paul Webb spearheaded the removal of what she called “trans material” from children’s view, triumphantly declaring it a “victory for common sense.”
“Telling children they’re in the ‘wrong body’ is wrong and simply unacceptable,” Kemkaran posted — words that echo the same transphobic rhetoric creeping across the Atlantic in the form of US-style book bans.
‘Protecting Children’ or Pushing an Agenda?
Following public outrage from LGBTQ+ authors, residents, and rights groups, the council tried to backpedal. In a statement, it insisted no adult transgender literature would be accessible in areas specifically meant for kids, citing a complaint about one trans-themed adult book on a public welcome display. That book has since been “relocated” — to a section “unlikely to be visited by children.”
But Kent County Council won’t say whether other adult content, like crime thrillers or romance novels, will also be relocated — or if it’s only trans stories getting the boot.
This selective sanitizing of public spaces has activists alarmed. Non-binary author and educator Dee Whitnell, who lives in Kent and wrote Beyond Bananas and Condoms, didn’t mince words: “This ban will actively take vital resources away from young people under the guise of ‘protecting’ them,” they said. “At one of my book signings, a young person told me that my book would ‘save lives’. That message rings even more true now.”
Whitnell warned that these removals won’t erase trans youth — they’ll only force them underground, where misinformation and harmful content can thrive. “You cannot erase trans youth. They will continue to exist.”
Queer Kent Fights Back
Shea Coffey, founder of Trans Pride Kent and mother of three, called the council’s position “laughable.” She also fears this is just the beginning. “This was part of a wider attack on LGBT+ rights. It won’t stop at books or flags,” she said. “What’s next — purging LGBTQ+ librarians?”
The LGBTQ+ community in Kent is no stranger to marginalization. But under Reform UK’s leadership, the rhetoric and action have taken a more sinister turn. Removing books isn’t just about literature — it’s about erasure. It’s about signaling to trans and queer kids that their identities are a threat, something to be hidden away on dusty shelves, out of sight and out of mind.
This is more than a policy dispute — it’s an ideological purge. And it hits where queer youth are most vulnerable: access to affirmation, education, and safety.
At a time when LGBTQ+ lives are increasingly under political attack, even in so-called liberal democracies, the battle over books is a battle over existence. And Kent’s queer community isn’t going quietly.