Making a Book Bigots Can’t Ban

‘Last year, nearly 2,500 LGBTQIA+ books were banned in the US’  proclaims the opening line of The Unbannable Book manifesto.

It was when noticing this censorship that independent agency Terri & Sandy thought, “Is there a book they can’t legally ban?”

Putting their heads together, social creative director Bryce Mathias and senior copywriter Jess Mannino soon realised the answer was right under their noses: advertising portfolios – the ad industry’s own ‘books’ – live online and are protected by the First Amendment, meaning they “can’t be pulled from shelves” by would-be censors.

So, the team set out to build what Bryce calls the biggest ‘Unbannable Book’ ever. Instead of pages on a shelf, this ‘book’ exists as an ever-growing digital archive filled with “trailblazing, powerful, unapologetic 2SLGBTQIA+ creative work”. All of which has been assembled in proud defiance of those who would silence queer voices.

From the outset, the team designed The Unbannable Book to avoid the usual “one-and-done” trap of seasonal Pride campaigns. “Our campaign’s core is inclusion, so the book couldn’t exclude… there are lots of letters in ‘2SLGBTQIA+ for a reason,” says the team. Because of this, new voices would be continuously welcomed to truly represent the community.

Terri & Sandy didn’t want to create something disposable or “rainbow-washy”. They were instead pushing towards something living, breathing, and growing, “because book-banning bigots aren’t restricting themselves to one month a year, so we couldn’t either.”

Bryce and Jess say The Unbannable Book is a collection of personal experiences – they drew inspiration from junior creatives struggling to see how they could be seen, and from veteran ad folks declaring “this isn’t my first rodeo” when facing queer erasure. “That chorus shaped the tone, and it’s why the breadth of work doesn’t just shout or celebrate… it does both,” Bryce and Jess tell me.

As the archive began to take shape, curation was approached with intention. Rather than a generic call for entries, the team posed a personal question to contributors: “What piece of work makes you feel most fulfilled?”.

That prompt yielded a huge spectrum of responses, from big brand work, to deeply personal side projects. The net was cast wide – contacting friends and colleagues, tapping into 2SLGBTQIA+ creative circles like Project Violet and D the WeRQ, while leveraging agency co-founder Sandy Greenberg’s rolodex.

A living gallery of queer creativity spanning diverse mediums, tones, and perspectives now exists, each “catching the light in different ways” on the site. Despite the urgency of the issue, the team was careful not to let anger dominate the message. “We knew if we responded with only rage, we’d be playing into the very narrative that seeks to silence and diminish queer voices.” They answered hatred with celebration, “We led with joy. With pride. With the kind of creative brilliance that can’t be legislated away,” Bryce and Jess say proudly.

Terri & Sandy also drew on lessons from their earlier advocacy project ‘Strands for Trans’. Reflecting on that initiative – which connected transgender people with trans-friendly barbershops – Bryce and Jess explain that this taught them you can say something emotional and build something functional together.

For all of its industry focus, the team hopes the message will carry further. Bryce and Jess say if a queer teenager stumbles upon the site, they want them to know there’s a place in the world for their voice, “Because there is.” They add that the existence of such an archive is proof that queer ideas aren’t just allowed, but celebrated.

But the fight against censorship, they warn, is far from over. “Current attempts to silence queer – and other – voices aren’t stopping at book bans.” But The Unbannable Book, they say, proves that “if you dare to speak up, and speak proudly, no one can ever take you off the shelf.”