The ACLU of New Hampshire and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on Monday a letter to Frank Edelblut, the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education (DOE), warning that his department’s communications with the Dover School District are “alarming and extraordinary,” and that the DOE’s insinuations that the District should consider whether or not to ban two books as “developmentally inappropriate” could create First Amendment concerns if such a ban occurred.
Earlier this year, the Commissioner suggested that the Dover School District consider whether or not to ban the books Boy Toy and Gender Queer from its high school library on the basis of “developmental inappropriateness” (though Gender Queer was not actually available at that library). This suggestion came after the DOE released an unworkable, unclear, and overly broad “Objectionable Material Policy” in September 2023. The policy targets any material on “social” and “cultural” “perspectives on human sexuality,” which could result in the removal of a broad swath of books from the classroom, and in particular could target books referencing same-gender relationships.
“Any suggestion that books be banned frays the bonds of trust and cooperation among parents, schools, and students,” the two groups state in the letter. “They track politicized and partisan narratives in the larger culture, and regularly target books that discuss or depict the experiences and history of members of LGBTQ+ communities and/or communities of color. Concessions to these demands—including even moving requested titles to segregated locations or making them only available behind a librarian’s desk—undermine diversity and inclusion in our schools and raise serious legal questions.”
— from an ACLU of New Hampshire and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders joint press release
Read the complete ACLU-NH and GLAD press release here.
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