Publisher launches ‘safety covers’ to discreetly read books about LGBTQ+ identities
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Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) has launched a new ‘safety cover’ designed to help users create privacy and discretion should they happen to be reading about potentially sensitive subjects in a public or unsafe setting.
JKP, among many other topics, carries books that deal with gender diversity and sexuality for both adult readers and young people. Assistant editor Sarah Thomson, in a now-removed blog post, said that some JKP readers had expressed their desire to explore LGBTQ+ subjects without sharing what they were reading with those around them.
Thomson wrote, “Sometimes this was a young trans person in an unsupportive household, sometimes it was someone who thought they might be autistic but didn’t want to announce it to everyone around them with a book cover.”
On JKP’s ‘safety cover’ listing, they write, “At JKP, we believe that everyone should be able to access the books they need. They should be able to read about themselves and others, to see themselves on the page, and to live openly without fear. However, we also understand that safety and acceptance are not a universal reality, and that some of our readers may not be able to enjoy all our books in public or at home.”
Although the use of a safety cover may help vulnerable LGBTQ+ people learn and educate themselves safely, there are other uses for a safety cover, such as to replace a disliked cover or to protect a book from damage.
JKP is a publishing house founded in 1987 which focuses on topics like mental health, gender diversity, adoption, neurodiversity, autism, social work, and arts therapies.
“Every week we get messages from people that say how their lives have been changed by the books that we publish, how we’ve helped them feel included in a society where difference is all too often frowned upon… Many of our authors have lived experience. They are the experts, and it’s our job to make sure their voices are heard. We want our books to inspire readers to change society for the better,” they note on their website.
