A Florida school district has ordered librarians to remove all books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes from school and classroom libraries.

Dear MoveOn member,

A Florida school district has ordered librarians to remove all books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes from school and classroom libraries.1

An Advanced Placement English teacher in South Carolina was reported to the school board and formally reprimanded for teaching Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me," an award-winning, seminal book about what it means to be Black in America.2

Across the country, Republican politicians are banning books and censoring what young people can learn, but at the very same time, they are desperate to downplay these extreme policies in public, because they know that the overwhelming majority of Americans disagree with them and that if voters knew the truth, they wouldn't cast a ballot for them.

Consider that 95% of Democrats, 80% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans are against book bans and say they will consider book bans when they vote.3

That's why our Banned Bookmobile—which is getting back on the road this weekend—is so important. We're traveling to battleground states, holding high-profile events with local leaders and authors, and giving away banned books in order to promote literacy and fight extremist censorship.

It's the type of highly visible tactic that the media love to cover, and the more we can get the word out and educate voters about the Republican politicians behind the tsunami of book bans sweeping the country, the fewer places they can hide from the consequences of their own actions.

But as a grassroots organization, we need your help to make it happen, John. Will you chip in $5 a month to help us keep the Banned Bookmobile on the road and cover everything from gas to security, buy as many copies of banned books as we can, so we can give them away for free, and hammer Republicans with bad press?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

A new study shows that book bans continue to intensify in public K-12 schools. In the 2022–23 school year, school book bans increased by 33% compared to the year before.4 Republicans continue to target books that are about race or racism or are written by and/or feature characters of color or LGBTQ+ characters.

Our Banned Bookmobile tour was wildly successful and made a huge impact when we launched it in July, but we need your support to get it back out on the road and to keep it there.

Will you donate $5 a month to support the Banned Bookmobile? Your donation will help us cover the costs of books, insurance, gas, security, staff, as well as our work to defeat the Republican politicians behind these bans.

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Mana, Corinne, Chrissy, Evelyn, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Florida school district orders librarians to purge all books with LGBTQ characters," Popular Information, September 26, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180369?t=6&akid=363146%2E40999114%2EX6uY70

2. "Her students reported her for a lesson on race. Can she trust them again?" The Washington Post, September 18, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180370?t=8&akid=363146%2E40999114%2EX6uY70

3. "Voter Perceptions of Book Bans in the United States," Every Library Institute, accessed September 27, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180371?t=10&akid=363146%2E40999114%2EX6uY70

4. "Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor," PEN America, accessed September 27, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180372?t=12&akid=363146%2E40999114%2EX6uY70

Contributions are used for MoveOn’s general purposes.

Want to support MoveOn's work? Book bans have skyrocketed thanks to right-wing state laws which have forced teachers to remove books from their classrooms. In response, MoveOn is launching a "Banned Bookmobile," filling it with books that the far right has banned, and driving it around to hand out those books, for free, in highly trafficked areas that will attract media attention. To keep the Banned Bookmobile up and running into 2024, we need your help.

Will you start a monthly gift to power our critical work?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


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