U.S. school books – the latest LGBTQ+ rights battleground
A U.S. culture war over LGBTQ+ rights has played out on school sports fields and in doctors’ surgeries in recent years. Now, the clash between liberals and conservatives is heading to the nation’s classrooms.
Rights campaigners and teachers are on alert over nearly a dozen state bills that seek to ban books and lessons related to sexuality and gender identity, putting LGBTQ+ issues back in the political spotlight ahead of November’s mid-term elections. “Censorship in the classroom and beyond has always been an issue.
However, these most recent bans have increased in volume and ferocity in the past year,” said Sarah Miller, program coordinator of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Since the start of 2022 alone, Republican lawmakers in 20 states have proposed legislation targeting school books, according to the legislative tracking service Freedom for All Americans.
