On Tuesday, a Virginia Beach court dealt a serious blow to would-be book-banners who were trying to restrict private bookstores from selling two books to minors.
Their lawsuit targeted Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. Gender Queer has been at the center of many book-banning battles for its graphic sexual scenes, particularly its visual illustrations of oral sex. The petitioners argued that A Court of Mist and Fury is "sexually offensive in nature" for its illustrations of sexual acts and descriptions of "abusive and intrusive sexual contact." Circuit Judge Pamela S. Baskervill, who came out of retirement to try the case since all other judges recused themselves, dismissed the suit on free speech and due process grounds.
