When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill into law, he displayed “Call Me Max,” a story about a young trans boy by author Kyle Lukoff, onstage.
In an op-ed for MSNBC, Lukoff discusses his weariness about being constantly asked to discuss book banning rather than his writing and he highlights his partnership with Fine Art Work Center on the first-ever Youth Lit Week this July in Provincetown.
He concludes: “Youth Lit Week will overlap with Family Week, the largest annual gathering of LGBTQ+ families in the world. My hope is that more institutions and organizations follow this model, allocating resources for writers and artists to thrive, so we can continue to do what we do best: create stories that will outlive us even in the face of opposition.
Some people study Shakespeare or Gerard Manley Hopkins or Wordsworth. I study picture books. Here’s to the day all my invitations are to talk about them — and not the governor of Florida.”
