Don't Ban LGBTQ+ Books In MA School Libraries: ACLU, GLAD Letter Urges

BOSTON, MA — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) are urging Massachusetts school districts to reject calls for censorship in school libraries. The groups sent a letter regarding book bans to the Massachusetts Associations of School Superintendents and School Committees, as well as state education officials and individual superintendents throughout the state this week.

The letter follows the Rochester Regional School District's move to review books, SouthCoast Today reported. The books under review include titles dealing with gender, sexuality and racism.

The ACLU and GLAD claim that the book bans enacted across the country specifically aim to remove books that are by and about LGBTQ people, communities of color, and other marginalized groups.

In Florida this week, teachers in the Manatee County School District removed books from a school library that had not been reviewed by a specialist from the district under threat of prosecution. The group PEN America counted 1,648 books banned in schools across the U.S. over the 2021-22 school year.

“Across the country, there is a coordinated attack on students’ right to learn,” ACLU of Massachusetts Executive Director Carol Rose said in a news release. “Book bans in school and public libraries — places that are central to our abilities to explore ideas, encounter new perspectives, and learn to think for ourselves — are misguided attempts to try to suppress that right. We applaud the communities that have resisted such attempts in Massachusetts and call on schools to protect all children’s access to an equal and safe education.”

The letter warns that removing books from school libraries may violate students’ rights to an unbiased education, as well as free speech rights. The book bans "fray the bonds of trust and cooperation among parents, schools, and students" and "track politicized and partisan narratives in the larger culture," according to the letter.

"The removal of books from school libraries, particularly those that focus on the experiences of historically marginalized communities, often equates to unlawful censorship," the letter reads. "Such removals also strike at the very heart of the purpose of a public education in our pluralistic society."