(WASHINGTON)— A legal challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court brought by six Maryland parents who want to remove their children from lessons involving LGBTQ-related story books is part of a wave of educational censorship affecting nearly every state, PEN America argued today in a “friend of the court” brief.
The writers and free expression group filed the amicus brief in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case the high court will hear on April 22, in which the parents in the Montgomery County, MD School District claim a constitutional right to opt their children out of classroom lessons involving nine children’s books about LGBTQ+ related stories. The school district, which PEN America’s brief supports, had determined that individual opt-outs, regardless of their reason, were not workable as a practical matter and in this case also stigmatized other students and their families.
The books at issue, all part of an approved school curriculum, include stories about a favorite uncle’s same-sex marriage; a young girl’s crush on a school classmate, and a boy bullied in school because of his long hair and choice of “pink crocs” as shoes. Authors have written that their goal was to teach kindness and acceptance of differences.
The parents argue that having these books read in class, or even available to be discussed, is coercive and undermines their right to free exercise of religion.
PEN America argues that the case is as much about free speech as freedom of religion.
PEN America’s Chief Legal Officer Eileen Hershenov said: “An opt-out would chill freedom of speech for students, teachers and authors and would constitute viewpoint discrimination, raising core First Amendment concerns. Both legally and practically, this would deny students access to diverse literature that spurs empathy, understanding and prepares them for lives in a pluralistic society. This case does not exist in a vacuum, and a ruling requiring this opt-out is likely to turbocharge the already dire state of book bans and educational censorship around the country.”
The brief, drafted by the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm, argues that the court should view the parents’ lawsuit in the context of the broader movement to advance extreme conservative viewpoints to dictate what is appropriate and allowable in schools. In classrooms nationwide, this movement has ignited book bans and erased discussion of ideas that do not adhere to its ideology.
PEN America has been at the forefront of documenting the sweeping book bans in public schools since 2021, tracking more than 16,000 of these bans over these four years. Its numerous reports have shown the book ban movement is a troubling effort by conservative activists to remove ideas predominantly related to race and racism, African American history, and LGBTQ subjects. This censorship campaign has not been seen since the Red Scare era of the 1950s.
The brief states: “[E]very student benefits from an inclusive learning environment. Books are [a] vital means of exposing students to different viewpoints and facets that make up the world around them. But when books are vilified to the point where the knowledge they provide is confused with ‘indoctrination,’ the core principles of public education and the freedom to read, learn, and think are in jeopardy.’”
The PEN America brief also points to the stigmatizing and isolating effects that requiring the opt-out policy may have, particularly on LGBTQ students or students from LGBTQ families, stating it would send “a strong negative message to LGBTQ students that their identities are unwelcome or immoral” and chill their “freedom to read and learn in schools, even their personal self-expression.”
“Free speech rights are particularly important in the educational context because schools play an essential role in preparing young people to be informed and engaged participants in the democratic enterprise, and in increasingly diverse settings,” the brief states.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, STrimel@PEN.org, 201-247-5057