In DC, a bill has been proposed that means to erase a whole class of persons from every school library in the country. Maris Kreizman calls for that bill to be stopped before it creates our very first national book ban.
Lately I’ve been calling my House rep and screaming about one zillion things, and maybe you have too. But today I want to talk about one thing in particular you should add to your list: H.R. 7661 is a bill brought by House Representative Mary Miller (Republican, Illinois) that seeks to remove any book that “involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism” from public schools in the entire United States. Seventeen of Miller’s colleagues in the House have cosigned it. We must stop this bill, each and every one of us.
Charmingly named the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, the bill prohibits the use of funds from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 “to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, and for other purposes.”
The bill defines “sexually oriented material” as any book that references “gender dysphoria or transgenderism,” which is a dangerous precedent. Maia Kobabe, a cartoonist who frequently tops the list of most banned authors, has created a very handy graphic to explain who the ban would affect. As Kelly Jensen put it at BookRiot: “It isn’t a stretch to see a bill like this used to outright ban all books by or about LGBTQ+ people under the guise of it being ‘sexually oriented.’”
The bill has the ignominious distinction of being the very first national-level attempt to ban books. Over the past several years there have been countless bills on the state and local level that purport to “protect children” by taking away their First Amendment rights. In fact, it’s difficult to keep track of all of the ways in which various state legislatures and individual school districts have sought to overrule the highly trained librarians who are experts in discerning what is appropriate for children to read.
Book-banners have used state and local law to prevent children from learning about any topics, like gender fluidity, that make them feel a little bit uncomfortable or conflict with their “values.” This is egregiously unconstitutional. But this is the first time every single child in public schools across the country would be affected.