“Heckler’s Veto” Has No Place in Interrupting Speakers on College Campuses
(NEW YORK) -- Protestors at the University of New Mexico last week interrupted a speech by conservative commentator Tomi Lahren, who appeared at the invitation of conservative student group… More
Educational Gag Orders In Your Community: A Tip Sheet for Changing the Conversation
Here are a few steps you can take to help change the conversation about educational gag orders in your community. More
Educational Gag Orders Target Speech about LGBTQ+ Identities With New Prohibitions and Punishments
The effort to censor anti-LGBTQ identities in the classroom is expanding rapidly. More
In Higher Education, New Educational Gag Orders Would Exert Unprecedented Control Over College Teaching
In 2022, educational gag orders are being aimed squarely at colleges and universities to exert ideological control over what is being taught and read in classrooms. More
Steep Rise in Gag Orders, Many Sloppily Drafted
Over the last three weeks, 65 bills have been formally introduced in state legislatures across the country, a rate of roughly three bills per day. More
New Stop W.O.K.E. Act Fits Disturbing Pattern in Education Culture War
Governor DeSantis’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act, while undoubtedly aggressive, is no aberration. On the contrary, it is increasingly—and disturbingly—business as usual. More
How to Fight Book Bans: A Tip Sheet for Students
How can students mobilize and respond to book bans? This guide will help you fight back against book bans and build a stronger community of readers and advocates in… More
Scope and Speed of Educational Gag Orders Worsening Across the Country
In the month since the release of our report, educational gag orders have grown more sweeping in scope and become law with increasing speed. More
Here Are Four Things Educational Gag Orders Could Ban
We offer illustrative examples of texts, documents, and discourse that educational gag orders could bar from being taught or discussed in classrooms. More
Texas Governor Invokes ‘Pornography’ to Ban Books, Threaten Criminal Action Against Librarians and Teachers
PEN America condemns the governor’s actions as a politically-motivated exercise in censorship and intimidation that threatens to ban books and criminalize teachers and librarians doing their job. More
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Moscow, Idaho: "University employees who are found to violate (#Idaho's) new gag rule, either by 'promoting' abortion, or by dispensing contraception, risk felony convictions, prison time, fines, firing and permanent bans from all state employment." https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/03/university-of-idaho-abortion-emergency-contraception
Great piece by @MBourjaily @educationweek on how teachers who can speak up, should speak up. References our America's Censored Classrooms report @PENamerica. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/opinion-some-politicians-count-on-teachers-staying-silent-we-cant-afford-to/2022/10
A milestone today in US free speech & LGBTQ history. 👇 "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg ruled not obscene and effectively un-banned. The poem in full: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl https://twitter.com/Ginsbergpoem/status/1576948354218885120