The data on book bans shows precisely the themes and topics that are being targeted and that have been targeted since early 2021 in this most recent wave of censorship. Among them are books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color, books that explore social and emotional learning, and books that explore sexuality and puberty. But there’s another segment of books targeted that has not been as deeply explored as the others — indeed, while PEN America’s data notes that books about health and wellbeing were the second most frequently banned in schools in the 2022-2023 school year, that category is so broad that it fails to specify that many of those books are about disability.

July is Disability Pride Month. Like with Sexual Assault Awareness Month, it’s crucial to talk about in the context of book bans because people with disabilities are also targets of censorship and erasure. While Disability Pride Month is about celebrating disability, that celebration comes with reflection and the understanding that Pride is necessary because of the conditions, systems, and structures built to hinder and harm disabled people. We live in a world where even so-called “good” “blue” states are enacting bans on face masks under the guise of safety, putting the most vulnerable into even further harm and further isolation. That is the same goal of book banners: isolation and stigma.

Disenfranchisement is the perfect opportunity to roll back freedoms and protections that disability advocates have been fighting for generations. The Americans With Disabilities Act is only 34 years old, and as we’ve seen discrimination become a-okay with marginalized groups through Supreme Court decisions, it is not a leap to believe that further harm will be coming to disabled people. Indeed, the overturning of the Chevron Doctrine is yet another step to put power into the hands of the already powerful rather than those who are actual experts; Project 2025 also has its sights on overturning and removing protections for disabled people. All of this further sets the stage for mis-, dis-, and mal- information about disability to flourish and become a weapon against disabled people.

There’s a common saying that most of us have far more in common with the houseless than we do billionaires. Many are one mistake, one accident, one medical bill away from losing their entire livelihoods. The same goes for those who do not live with a disability, seen or unseen. We are all much closer to having one or being close with someone who does than never once encountering the possibility. This is for every reason you can surmise, including and especially climate change, the cost of healthcare, super-spreader illnesses like COVID, the anti-vaccine movement, mis/dis/mal information, and more.

Mental health issues are disability issues. That amounts to one out of every five U.S. adults. Attacks on books about social and emotional learning and books that explore diversity, equity, and inclusion are attacks on learning about and discussing mental health. Attacks on books about health and wellness are not only about sexuality and puberty; they’re also about people who live with limb differences, invisible illnesses, wheelchair users, dwarfism, and much, much more. Attacks on books with diversity, equity, and inclusion themes are not “just” about race or gender. They’re about disability and the intersections of disability, race, social class, gender, sexuality, and every other marginalization.