This past Thursday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed a bill that could make it much harder for Christian conservatives to ban LGBTQ+ books in schools.
H.B. 787, dubbed the “Freedom to Read Act,” requires school districts to develop a protocol for reviewing books in their library system. It also prevents county boards of education from retaliating against school media programs if they follow the review protocol. The law stipulates that materials can’t be excluded from libraries “because of the origin, background, or views of a person who created the material” and that books must remain available for students during the review process.
“I’m proud that Maryland is a place where everyone can see themselves in literature, where that book will remain on the shelves for them to read and see and not feel alone and that people’s history isn’t erased,” Del. Dana Jones (D) said. She sponsored the bill in the Maryland House of Delegates. “We’re not telling anyone what to read. The readers are choosing. People are choosing. This is a statewide bill for everyone to protect literature, libraries and librarians and I couldn’t be prouder.”
“Extreme groups are trying to ban books in our public schools and our public libraries,” Maryland State Education Association President Cheryl Bost told 7News. “This is critically important because it’s not only keeping literature on the shelves, but it’s also protecting librarians from punitive damage.”
She said that since 2019, formal challenges to libraries in the state have more than doubled, and there was a 600% increase in threats to workers at libraries. Over half of librarians in the state said that they were afraid to purchase books that they thought would be beneficial for students.
The bill was proposed after the Carroll County Board of Education enacted a policy banning “sexually explicit” content in libraries. Moms for Liberty, the anti-LGBTQ+ organization, is active in Carroll County and has been involved in challenging books that they claim contain “graphic sexual content.” Books that contain LGBTQ+ themes are often labeled as having sexual content by anti-LGBTQ+ activists, and many of the most challenged books are written by LGBTQ+ authors and people of color.
The LGBTQ+ organization GLSEN hailed the law, calling the bill “groundbreaking.”
Last year, Illinois passed a similar bill, becoming the first state to respond to the growing trend of book banning.
The law goes into effect immediately.
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