During the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, far-right extremists had implemented at least 1,477 book bans, with thousands more challenged. That equates to over 100 titles removed each month, and the number continues to grow.

These book bans are targeting stories about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. They range from books about civil rights hero Rosa Parks to children’s books about two male penguins raising a chick together, and even include the poem Amanda Gorman read at President Biden's inauguration.

Most prevalent in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina, these book bans are glaring alarms for fascist pushes in GOP-led states. The ostracization and demonization of racial and ethnic minorities and vulnerable communities, and the altering of reality and the truth, are core components of fascist and authoritarian regimes, used to obtain and keep power.

A vast majority of parents oppose book bans and some teachers are fighting back to protect the freedom of students to access books without bigoted bans, but the fascist-front of banning continues.

We must rise together and let them know we see them and demand an immediate cease.

Sign the petition: STOP book bans! Defend the right to read.