If you ask its leaders, the book ban movement is ostensibly about “parents’ rights.” A popular Moms for Liberty T-shirt reads “We do NOT co-parent with the government.” According to that logic, the question of what’s appropriate for children to read is debated in the home, not in the halls of power. Strange, then, that HR 7661, recently passed out of committee and poised for a full vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, represents just that: government overreach into the question of what is appropriate for children to read.
HR 7661 is an assault on civil rights. The bill makes it illegal “to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, and for other purposes.” The language is frighteningly ambiguous and broad; it’s easy to imagine a ban for just about any book dealing with sex or gender in any way.
Any schools or libraries found in violation of HR 7661 would risk losing essential federal money in an already difficult funding environment for education and the literary arts. Funding for education and libraries is already being weaponized in the current culture wars; this would only make it worse. A school or library could lose vital funding for the sin of simply trying to help queer students see themselves in what they read.
I want my son to read literature that’s welcoming of a wide range of perspectives and identities. What happened to my rights as a parent?
That’s not to say I want to make all the decisions about what my son reads. I’m happy for him to self-direct his reading. Choosing his own books is an important element of his discovery of not only literature but his identity.
I’m also happy for qualified librarians, teachers, and booksellers to guide his reading. Dedicated children’s librarians train for years to gain the knowledge and skills it takes to get the right books into the right hands. As a former owner of an independent bookstore, I know how much skill this takes. I trust librarians to do this, and they do it well, despite being the target of ever-increasing harassment and threats from book banners.
HR 7661 is a terrifying nadir of that movement. Would-be censors have been gaining power on library and school boards, city councils, and state legislatures for years. Now, they’ve set their sights on federal legislation. HR 7661 takes the decision about what children should read away from parents and librarians and gives it to politicians—the same politicians who have orchestrated ICE’s brutal assault on the civil liberties of countless Americans.
I do not trust these politicians to choose what my child can read.
Studies show that restricting books leads to worse learning outcomes. Studies show that identifying with characters in books improves mental health for queer children, a population that has staggeringly high instances of depression and suicide. What we read as children is deeply tied to the formation of our identities; therefore, an attack on children’s books is an attack on the children who read them.
But HR 7661 is not only an attack on children; it’s an attack on schools, libraries, and the people who make them run. Librarians are already victims of constant harassment from book banners trying to force these beloved public institutions into a bitter culture war. For instance, after a book banning bill was introduced in Idaho, a majority of Idaho librarians reported that they were thinking of leaving the profession. HR 7661 would worsen these tensions by using federal legislation to transform libraries from sites of learning into sites for ideological warfare.
In a time where there’s a literacy crisis among children, in a time where overreliance on AI threatens our capacity for critical thought, in a time where the idea of truth is up for debate, the last thing we need is for librarians to come under further attack. The last thing we need is to restrict children’s access to books. The last thing we need is for marginalized people to be further dehumanized by the vicious machinations of a prejudiced and hateful federal government.
HR 7661 must not be allowed to pass. We cannot legitimize the book banning movement by enshrining its goals into federal law.
All you need to do is call your rep and tell them not to vote for HB 7661. It is your right to do so, just like it’s your right to read whatever you want, just like it’s your right to help your own children discover a love of books.
Danny Caine is the author of several books, including How to Defend Books and Why and How to Resist Amazon and Why. He is a former owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, Publishers Weekly's 2022 Bookstore of the Year.
