A judge sided with 12 students who sued for the right to access age-appropriate books on the topics.
John Russell at LGBTQ Nation:
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) ā which runs schools forĀ more than 67,000Ā military-connected children ā violated studentsā First Amendment rights when it removed books and censored curricula related to race and gender in its schools, a federal judge ruled on Monday. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Gilesās October 20 decision grants a preliminary injunction sought by 12 students who attend DoDEA schools, blocking the agency from enforcing three of President Donald Trumpās anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-DEI executive orders and requiring schools to return nearly 600 books to classroom and library shelves while the case proceeds. In April, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Kentucky, and the ACLU of VirginiaĀ filed a complaint on behalf of the 12 students and their familiesĀ challenging DoDEAās removal of books from its schoolsā classrooms and libraries in response to Trumpās executive orders 14168, 14185, and 14190. The orders, according to the complaint, resulted in DoDEAās censorship of age-appropriate curricula on race and gender, and its removal of materials that reference slavery, civil rights, race, ethnicity, immigration, diversity, sexual orientation, and gender identity in violation of studentsā First Amendment rights. The complaint named DoDEA director Beth Schiavino-Narvaez and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as defendants.
According to the ACLU, books āquarantinedā by DoDEA schools included classics likeĀ ToĀ KillĀ a MockingbirdĀ andĀ Fahrenheit 451, more recent titles likeĀ The Kite Runner,Ā A Queer History of the United States, the childrenās bookĀ JuliĆ”n Is a Mermaid, and even Vice President JD Vanceās 2016 memoirĀ Hillbilly Elegy. Lawyers for the DODĀ reportedly arguedĀ that the removals constituted āgovernment speechā and thus were shielded from First Amendment scrutiny. But Giles rejected that characterization, writing that it conflicts with school librariesā purpose as sites of academic freedom and warning that such a characterization would be ādangerousā for intellectual freedom.
See Also:
The Advocate: Federal judge orders Pentagon to restore LGBTQ+ books, gender & diversity lessons in military schools
Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles issues order in E.K. v. DoDEA to return books that were wrongly quarantined-- especially those touching on race and gender-- to DoDEA school shelves.
