Maryland Parents Seek Supreme Court Review Over District Policy on LGBTQIA+ Books | Censorship News

A group of parents in Montgomery County, MD, has asked the Supreme Court to review their school district's decision not to allow them to opt their children out of seeing books with LGBTQIA+ characters; and Sarah J. Maas books and other titles removed in Cobb County, GA, and Rutherford County, TN.

Maryland Parents Ask Supreme Court to Review Use of LGBTQIA+ Books in Lower Grades | Maryland Matters
A group of Montgomery County, MD, parents of various religions has asked the Supreme Court to review the school system’s refusal to let them opt their children out of classes that use LGBTQIA+ books in lower elementary school grades saying it infringes on their religious liberty rights.

The books were introduced in the 2022-23 school year and are not part of a mandatory reading list for the classrooms but can be used by teachers in classroom instruction. Parents who objected to the use of the books were originally allowed to opt their children out of lessons that included the books. But the school system announced in March 2023 that opt-outs would no longer be allowed, beginning in the 2023-24 school year. It said parents can opt students out of parts of sex education, but not other parts of the curriculum, like language arts.

Georgia School District Removes 6 More ‘Explicit’ Books from School Libraries, Total Now 26 | WSB-TV2
At a recent Cobb County (GA) School Board meeting, the superintendent announced six more books would be removed from the school district’s library system. A statement shared from the school district described the action as the district removing “more sexually explicit books from schools.” According to the district, the six books are Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Frost and Starlight, and A Court of Silver Flames, and Ironfire by David Bal.

Tennessee District School Board Bans 6 Books from School Libraries | WSMV4
Six books in Rutherford County (TN) Schools will soon be taken off of shelves. The titles are Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, Sarah J. Maas’s Queen of Shadows and Tower of Dawn, and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing. Sherry Shahan’s Skin & Bones failed to get enough votes for removal and will stay on high school library shelves.

How Black Parents Are Fighting Against Growing Book Bans They Say Are Efforts 'To Evade History' | Essence
Mothers share their concerns, as well as the actions they're taking to ensure compelling literature by Black authors gets in their children's hands.

Some Challenge Books; Others Challenge Bans | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, School of Information Science
School and public libraries face conflicting and complex challenges as books become caught up in political battles, according to Tomas Lipinski, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies. 

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