PEN America | GLAAD

Education À La Carte: Legal and Anti-Censorship Experts, Authors, and Students on the Stakes of the Supreme Court Book Ban Case Mahmoud v. Taylor

Jae Moore — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 14:45:43 +0000

Today, April 22, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in a case brought by six parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, seeking to opt out their children from the presence of LGBTQ-inclusive books in public education. “This case is about whether public school education can be a la carte, allowing parents to pick and choose [...]

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Fact Sheet: Mahmoud v. Taylor, the U.S. Supreme Court Case About Banning LGBTQ-inclusive Books

GLAAD — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 18:03:05 +0000

The Supreme Court of the United States is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Mahmoud v. Taylor is about a small number of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books included in the classrooms of Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. The books were chosen and evaluated by education professionals. Six parents (three couples) sued [...]

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Annual Celebration of Libraries and Library Workers Arrives Amid Funding Threats to Learning and Enrichment

Jae Moore — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 18:29:17 +0000

April 6-12 marks National Library Week, the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual celebration of libraries, library workers, and the role they play “in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.” With a theme of “Drawn to the Library,” this year’s event encourages readers to “chart [their] next literary adventure” at the library, recognize the contributions of [...]

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Fighting Attacks on Inclusive Books at the Supreme Court

GLAAD — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:31 +0000

Today, authors and illustrators of books in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor released a statement in support of inclusive books, and in support of the school district including their books in curriculum. The case was brought by a group of parents who sued the Montgomery County, Maryland, school district for the right to [...]

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Federal Agency, Former Champion for Intellectual Freedom, Parrots Book Ban Misinformation

Jae Moore — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:18:02 +0000

Living up to President Trump’s campaign promise to upend education, the endangered U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced last week the dismissal of 11 complaints and six pending cases filed against school book bans as “meritless claim[s] premised upon a dubious legal theory.” Additionally, OCR fired book ban coordinator Matt Nosanchuk [...]

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Representation: The Secret Ingredient to Acceptance

Jae Moore — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:35:49 +0000

Although schools and educators, libraries and librarians, parents and students all feel the effects of book bans, one group that receives less media attention but is no less important is authors. According to a new report from PEN America, the 2023-24 school year “targeted authors across state lines and across school years.” Titles that were [...]

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Banned Recognition: Annual Event Casts a Spotlight on the Freedom to Read

Jae Moore — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 20:51:00 +0000

Banned Books Week (BBW) kicks off this year with new data showing the number of book banning attempts down, but still at high levels, and that efforts to restrict access to books and other “soft censorship” are up. “Titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and [Black, Indigenous and other People of Color] [...]

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Let Freedom Read! In the Wake of Sobering Reports, Beloved Icon Leads Call for Action at Annual Event

Jae Moore — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:00:09 +0000

by Jae Moore Fresh data on book bans is in as we head into Banned Books Week, an annual commemoration highlighting growing censorship efforts and ways that freedom-loving Americans can fight back. New reports from the American Library Association and PEN America reveal that, while some states are taking decisive action to end book bans, [...]

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GLAAD POINTS TO BOOK BANS AS JUST ONE ARM OF ORGANIZED NATIONAL ATTACK ON LGBTQ YOUTH AS NEW PEN AMERICA REPORT REVEALS NEARLY HALF OF BANNED BOOKS ARE TARGETED DUE TO LGBTQ CONTENT

GLAAD — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 19:23:34 +0000

GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization and a member of the Banned Books Week coalition, is responding to new data about LGBTQ books under attack, and urges media covering Banned Books Week to include research on the larger story of book challenges as the latest method to [...]

The post GLAAD POINTS TO BOOK BANS AS JUST ONE ARM OF ORGANIZED NATIONAL ATTACK ON LGBTQ YOUTH AS NEW PEN AMERICA REPORT REVEALS NEARLY HALF OF BANNED BOOKS ARE TARGETED DUE TO LGBTQ CONTENT first appeared on GLAAD.