H.R. 7661 is a government censorship bill that is heading for a vote in the US House of Representatives, and we need your help to stop it. (If the video below doesn’t play, you can watch it on Instagram.)

Once again we see that book banning is not about the content or merits of a particular book, but rather book banning is being used as a tool to isolate, target, and discriminate against under-represented people and communities.

Using vague language, this bill would target books for kids and teens with any LGBTQIA2+ characters or content. Calling Queer people’s existence in age-appropriate children’s books “sexually oriented” is both offensive and a slippery slope: if we do not hold the line for the freedom to read in support of the Queer community’s representation, we will lose representation for everyone except the handful of people in power.

In their rallying cry against this bill, Authors Against Book Bans explain, “This is an anti-trans bill at its core, but one that also seeks to lay dangerous groundwork for even more sweeping anti-book legislation that could come in the future.”

In their statement opposing H.R. 7661, EveryLibrary adds, “This bill places the federal government in the position of dictating what young people are permitted to read by threatening to withhold funding if certain viewpoints or topics appear in school collections.”

And as Unite Against Book Bans points out, “H.R. 7661 should not become the law of the land where people value civil rights and oppose government censorship.”

I hope everyone reading this will take five minutes and reach out to your representative urging them to vote NO on House Bill 7661, and to instead support the freedom—and the right—to read.

And once you’ve taken action, please share this message with the people in your circles.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

P.S. – The graphic above is from WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP, the freedom to read program I co-founded and run with Tasslyn Magnusson and EveryLibrary Institute. We’ve purchased and donated 5,000 books to help offset 2,500 book bans so far, and you can help us do even more. Learn more about WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP here.