WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee were divided during a hearing Thursday on whether some books with LGBTQ+ content should be removed from public school libraries.
Democrats criticized the hearing, saying it used culture war themes to attack public education and said These tactics have led to book bansRepublicans argued that the books are not banned because those removed from public schools can be purchased elsewhere.
“These censorship laws are being passed by extreme MAGA politicians under the guise of parental rights, when in reality it is a coordinated and apparently well-funded, vocal minority of parents and conservative organizations who are imposing their personal agendas on others,” said the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon.
More book bans have occurred in Florida, the home state of the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Aaron Bean, than in any other state. Bean has encouraged parents to challenge books with “vulgar content” at local school board meetings.
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During the 2022-2023 school year, more than 40% of U.S. book bans occurred in the Sunshine State, with 1,406 book bans. according to the PEN America reporta group dedicated to fighting book banning and defending the First Amendment.
Bean argued that the books would not be removed because they tell stories about the LGBTQ+ community, but because they “contain pornographic content.”
“Inappropriate books are found in school libraries and local communities have the right to remove them,” he said.
Bean added that the books are not banned because they can be purchased on Amazon.
“If you can order a book from Amazon and have it delivered to your home the next day, it’s not banned,” Bean said. “In fact, the most frequently removed books are still very popular on Amazon.”
In the last few years there has been an unprecedented wave of book bans and censorship by parents and right-wing groups targeting books focusing on the LGBTQ+ community, black history, and diverse stories.
Many book bans It began at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and was part of the frustration over mask mandates and online learning that ultimately led to the politicization of school board meetings.
One of the witnesses called by Democrats was Jonathan Friedman, director of free speech and education programs at PEN America.
Friedman said PEN America has been conducting research on book banning “off and on for about 100 years as these issues have intensified.”
“I can tell you that three years ago, four years ago, there was nothing like this on the scene,” he said. “Something has changed. A movement encouraging people to try to censor information and ideas.”
One of the groups that was opening local branches across the United States and lobbying school boards to ban certain books is an initiative of Moms for Liberty.
One of the Republican Party witnesses, Lindsey Smith, is the president of the Montgomery County, Maryland, chapter of Moms for Liberty.
“It’s about innocence and protecting our children,” she said.
The two books Republicans focused on were “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson and “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Mai Kobabe.
Utah GOP Rep. Burgess Owens criticized “All Boys Aren’t Blue” for including incest. The book, a nonfiction youth memoir with essays about Johnson’s life growing up as a queer black man in New Jersey and Virginia, has a chapter in which the author recounts being sexually abused by a family member when he was a child.
The second book, “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a youthful adult comic by Kobabe about Kobabe’s journey to gender identity as nonbinary and queer. Republicans argued that the book was inappropriate because it depicted oral sex.
