25. New Mexico: Censoring Shakespeare
Literature and the performing arts are occasionally subjected to harsh moral panics, resulting in incredibly strange censorship laws. State officials once mandated that 400 specific words of sexually explicit or suggestive material be permanently cut from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Conservative lawmakers deemed the classic Renaissance play entirely too scandalous for younger audiences. They legally demanded the edits before the text could be utilized in public education curriculums or local community theater performances. Modern theater companies perform the play in its entirety without fear of government intervention, completely ignoring the historical censorship mandate.