We explain the bill below, but the next step if you want to push back against this bill is to contact your US Senators, tell them it’s coming, and ask them to proactively oppose it.

The Bill

Like HR 7661 (the previous national book ban bill, which has stalled but which we continue to track), Section II HR 2616 of this bill restricts Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds if they would be used to “teach or advance gender-ideology.” We believe “advance” could be applied to books from kids books about crayons to Plato’s Symposium. 

Restricting ESEA funds would disproportionately impact schools with the greatest financial need and stunt school book purchases, which in turn could have a chilling effect on the whole book market. It would particularly hurt bookstores who do business with schools.

Learning of the floor vote with little notice, ABA submitted a memo in opposition, which was entered into the Congressional record during the floor debate. We explained in greater detail how funding restrictions impact the whole literary ecosystem, limit book choices available to parents, and are too vaguely defined to even know what books would be impacted.

What You Can Do

The bill will face an uphill battle in the Senate. You can make that hill steeper by calling or writing to your US Senator today and telling them you want them to oppose the bill. 

We recommend focusing on the following three points we emphasized in our opposition letter: 

• As a small business, you worry about the effect on the book market
• The bill is vague and it’s not clear what would be impacted
• Tying up book acquisitions will make it hard to do business with schools

Our action center makes contacting your Senator easy. 
Thank you for standing up against book censorship today.