“The school district of Brevard County, Florida, has placed a ban on Sasaki and Miyano, a popular queer manga, due to the contents being considered unsuitable for young readers.”
Since its debut in 2016, the manga series Sasaki and Miyano has released a total of 10 volumes, chronicling the bond between two high school boys. This captivating story is the brainchild of creator Shō Harusono and has become widely recognized as one of the top LGBTQ+ anime series.
On August 27, 2024, the Brevard County School Board conducted a vote and decided to prohibit Vol. 1 of the manga from school libraries due to the core relationship being deemed “inappropriate”and concerns raised by one of the board members about the manga format.
During the school board meeting, the book was presented for consideration and sparked a discussion on whether or not it should be included. The discussion began at 47:40 in the video mentioned above, during which District 1 representative and Board Chair Megan Wright expressed her strong opposition. She stated, “This book solely focuses on an inappropriate relationship.”
“When reading a book, we are taught from a young age to start at the beginning and read from left to right and top to bottom. However, this particular book should be read backwards – meaning starting at the end and reading in reverse. This is a different approach from the usual method of reading.”
She commented that she doesn’t think this is “the best book we can provide for our children”, also voicing concerns about the direction of the story after the first volume.
It goes without saying that Sasaki and Miyano’s presentation is not unique; manga and Japanese literature are simply written in a different format than European and American publishing, with a left-to-right, top-to-bottom structure. This was highlighted by Katye Campbell, the representative for District 5.
“Campbell stated that she did not see an issue with the backwards nature of the Japanese translation, as it was a literal translation. However, she also noted that she would not defend the manga as she found it to be “somewhat foolish”.
It is important to mention that the vote on this matter was divided. Jennifer Jenkins, who represents District 5, expressed disagreement with Wright’s statements. “I am hesitant to remove a book without fully understanding the reason for its use in reverse,”she stated, citing the potential for legal repercussions.
A lawsuit was filed against the Escambia County School Board, located in Florida, in January of this year for their actions in removing books that were deemed to be in violation of First Amendment rights to free speech. The legal action has been initiated by PEN America, Penguin Random House, concerned parents, and affected authors.
According to Campbell, the situation in this particular case is unique, as the motion was passed with a vote of three to two. Jenkins took to X/Twitter to express her dissatisfaction, stating: “In Brevard County today, we prohibited a book from being read because our chairperson was unable to comprehend why it was being read from right to left in Japanese translation. Furthermore, she mistakenly deemed the LGBTQ relationship depicted as ‘inappropriate’.”
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