NO to H.R.7661

H.R.7661 is an insidious Book Ban Bill that would "amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the use of funds provided under such Act to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, and for other purposes.”

This bill includes "SEXUALLY ORIENTED MATERIAL.—The term ‘sexually oriented material’ means material that—(i) includes any depiction, description, or simulation of sexually explicit conduct (as defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 2256(2) of title 18, United States Code); or (ii) involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism.”.

This is discriminatory and criminalizes transgender people's existence as pornographic. Join organizations such as the American Library Association (ALA) in telling your representatives "NO" in response to H.R.7661.

ALA president Sam Helmick said in a statement: “H.R. 7661 isn’t fundamentally about protecting kids. It’s about giving politicians broad authority to restrict whose stories are allowed on our shelves. That should concern anyone who believes in the freedom to read and the right of families to make decisions for themselves.”

PEN America’s Kasey Meehan calls the bill “an overt, intentional dog whistle to individuals that believe that trans and LGBTQ+ students have no place in public schools, and their stories do not belong in classroom libraries.”
Letter Campaign by
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Fern Aurelius
Baltimore, Maryland