Plato's Symposium Faces Modern Censorship Alongside LGBTQ+ Books

A 2,400-year-old dialogue on love and identity still provokes—now banned at Texas A&M. How did Plato's radical ideas outlast centuries only to clash with today's culture wars?

, and Administrator

2026 March 23 . 10:02 AM

1 min read

The image shows an old book with a drawing of four women's faces on it, each with a human face. The... — The image shows an old book with a drawing of four women's faces on it, each with a human face. The text on the paper reads "The Queer Side of Things".

Plato's Symposium Faces Modern Censorship Alongside LGBTQ+ Books

Plato's writings on gender and sexuality have stirred debate for centuries. His ideas, once controversial among Renaissance scholars, now face modern censorship. Recent bans at Texas A&M University have placed his Symposium alongside contemporary LGBTQ+ works like Gender Queer and Heartstopper.

Plato's Symposium has long challenged traditional views on gender. The text explores man-boy relationships, female-female love, and characters who reject marriage and child-rearing. These themes unsettled Renaissance Humanists, who tried to suppress or reinterpret his ideas. Their efforts backfired, sparking ridicule and further discussion.

Not all of Plato's works caused alarm in the past. His *Apology*, for example, avoided the same scrutiny. Yet the *Symposium*'s androgyne passage—describing humans as originally dual-gendered—has inspired generations. Students and scholars still turn to it for alternative perspectives on gender and sexuality. Today, Plato's influence endures in unexpected places. Percy Shelley translated the *Symposium* in the 19th century, while the 2001 film *Hedwig and the Angry Inch* references its themes. But in 2026, Texas A&M University flagged his work under new restrictions on gender- and race-related content. The university has not detailed how it will enforce these bans, as no statewide mandate yet exists.

Plato's Symposium remains both a cultural touchstone and a target of censorship. Its inclusion in recent book bans highlights its lasting relevance. For LGBTQ+ communities, his ancient texts continue to offer validation and historical grounding.