Two Missouri students are suing their school district after officials banned several books from school libraries dealing with race, racism, sex, gender and sexuality.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued the Wentzville School District on behalf of the students, who aren’t named in the lawsuit because they are minors, according to ABC News.
The class-action lawsuit alleges the district removed the books because they disagreed with the “diversity of ideas and minority viewpoints, including with respect to race, gender, and sexual identity.”
The district’s school board voted last month to remove “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison from its school libraries because of its explicit descriptions of sex, violence, rape and incest.
The district also voted to remove other critical acclaimed books from their library shelves while they are being reviewed. Those books include “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Paperback,” by Alison Bechdel; “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson; “Heavy: An American Memoir,” by Kiese Laymon; “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison; “Gabi, A Girl in Pieces,” by Isabel Quintero; “Modern Romance,” by Aziz Ansari; and “Invisible Girl,” by Lisa Jewell.
“School boards cannot ban books because the books and their characters illustrate viewpoints different of those of school board; especially when they target books presenting the viewpoints of racial and sexual minorities, as they have done in Wentzville,” said Anthony Rothert, Director of Integrated Advocacy of ACLU of Missouri.
“The first amendment protects the right to share ideas, including the right of people to receive information and knowledge. We must protect this right, including educators’ and students’ rights to talk and learn about race and gender in schools.”
