Washington State School District Bans Student Protest
North Thurston Public Schools in Lacey, Washington, recently barred students from protesting on its campuses.
Wentzville, Missouri, School District Bans Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Calls Book “Obscene” | Updated
Wentzville, Missouri, schools remove Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye after incorrectly labeling it obscene.
School Board Overrules Review Committee to Remove Beyond Magenta from School Libraries in Siloam Springs, Arkansas
Arkansas school district removes "Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out" from school libraries against the recommendation of its own review committee.
NCAC Urges New York State School District to Allow Students with Differing Views to Display Art on Controversial Issues
NCAC is urging Eastport-South Manor Central School District in Manorville, New York, to allow students of differing views to display art on school grounds.
Toni Morrison Novel Among At Least 8 Books Removed From Forsyth County, Georgia, School Libraries | Updated
Forsyth County Schools in Cumming, Georgia, removed numerous books from school libraries in violation of district regulations.
Granbury, Texas, School District Removes 130 Books While Rewriting Book Review Process | Updated
Schools in Granbury, Texas, removed 130 books from library shelves before reviewing a single one.
Body Language: 2021 Film Contest Winners
For this year’s YFEP Film Contest, we invited teens to create a film on the importance of expressing one’s gender and identity through personal appearance. The 3 winners tackled a wide range of polarizing, and often taboo, topics including gun violence, immigrant family separation, gender equality, toxic masculinity, shaming and bullying, and climate change. The Chairs of the New [...]
Polk County, Florida, School District Removes Sixteen Books From School Libraries | Updated
Polk County Public Schools in Florida removed sixteen library books before completing an official review.
NCAC Objects to Removal of Student’s LGBTQ Artwork in Georgia School | Updated
School officials in Athens, Georgia, removed student artwork celebrating gay rights and compared displaying a rainbow flag to displaying a swastika in the classroom.
Tennessee School District Bans Teaching of Acclaimed Holocaust Novel MAUS
A Tennessee school district has banned the teaching of Art Spiegelman's Pulitizer Prize-winning graphic novel, MAUS, in its eighth grade unit on the Holocaust.
Wayzata, Minnesota, School Removes Lawn Boy Against District Regulations
School officials in Wayzata, Minnesota, recently removed Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison from the Wayzata High School library in violation of District regulations.
It’s Perfectly Normal and In the Night Kitchen Removed from Llano County Library in Texas | Updated
The National Coalition Against Censorship is concerned about the recent removal of two books from Texas's Llano County library: It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris; and In The Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak.
NCAC and ACLU Defend Public’s Right to Information in Project Veritas v. New York Times Case
The National Coalition Against Censorship joined the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union in support of The New York Times’ right to report and publish information related to Project Veritas.
Concerns Over Extensive Book Review at North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas
One of Texas's largest school districts removed hundreds of books for review, in violation of district policy, in response to a legislator's investigation of books in schools.
NCAC Offers Support to Illinois School District in Updating Book Challenge Policies | Updated
Illinois school district pressured to remove books from school libraries by violent alt-right gang Proud Boys.
NCAC Leads Coalition Statement on the Attack on Books in Schools
An organized political attack on books in schools threatens the education of America’s children. NCAC and over 600 co-signers are deeply concerned about this sudden rise in censorship and its impact on education, the rights of students, and freedom of expression.
Remembering Phil Harvey: Free Speech Defender
The free speech community lost a great champion on December 2, 2021, with the passing of Phil Harvey.
Keller, Texas, School District Censors Library Books in Violation of Policy
Keller Independent School District in Keller, TX, recently appeared to violate its own policies when it removed several books from school library shelves.
NCAC Protests District’s Removal of Gender Queer from School Libraries in Pinellas County, Florida
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Board of Education of Pinellas County Schools in Largo, FL, to protest the recent removal of Gender Queer from school libraries shelves. This is the latest in a series of book removals across the country that ignore policy and best practice in removing books before a formal review takes place.
NCAC Objects to Removal of Lawn Boy and Gender Queer from Fairfax, Virginia, School Libraries | UPDATED
Fairfax County, Virginia, school district removed two books, Lawn Boy and Gender Queer, from school libraries after a parent complaint.
Kansas City, Missouri, District Censors Fun Home and All Boys Aren’t Blue in School Libraries | UPDATED
North Kansas City Schools improperly censored two books--Fun Home and All Boys Aren't Blue--from district libraries in violation of their book review policy.
School District in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Reviewing Gender Queer in School Libraries | UPDATED
Superintendent in Harrisonburg, Virginia, unilaterally removed Gender Queer from school libraries in violation of district policy and free expression principles.
New Jersey School Censors Student’s Black Lives Matter Poster in African American Culture Display | Updated
A student’s Black Lives Matter poster was censored at Hillsborough Middle School in New Jersey because of apparent disagreement with the political views it expressed.
Florida’s Brevard County Public Schools Remove Gender Queer from Library Shelves Without Review
Brevard County Public Schools in central Florida recently removed Maia Kobabe's graphic novel/memoir Gender Queer from school library shelves without regard to its own book challenge procedures.
Orlando, Florida, School District Ignores Procedures in Removing Gender Queer from Libraries | Updated
A school district in Orlando, Florida, violated its book challenge procedures in removing Gender Queer from libraries without formal review.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools Issue Unconstitutional Order to Remove “Sexually Explicit” Books from Libraries | UPDATED: Order Revoked
NCAC has objected to an unconstitutional order from Spotsylvania County Public Schools in Fredericksburg, Virginia, that “sexually explicit” books be removed from district libraries.
NCAC Criticizes Brooklyn School’s Censorship of Student Mural | UPDATED
The principal at the elementary school in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood removed a mural created by several fifth graders because of apparent discomfort with some of its content.
NCAC and Dramatists Guild Object to Cancellation of School Play with Gay Character in Hillsboro, Ohio
Hillsboro High School in Ohio cancelled a production of Qui Nguyen’s play, She Kills Monsters, due to “inappropriate language, profanity, homophobic slurs, sexual innuendos and graphic violence," but likely also because it features a gay character.
Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon School District Censors Gender Queer in School Libraries
In violation of district policy, Wissahickon School District in Pennsylvania censored Gender Queer from library shelves.
Utah School District Censors School Library Books | Updated
Canyons School District in Utah has censored several award-winning books from school libraries in violation of its own district policies.
Northampton Arts Council Wrong to Cancel Biennial Over Criticism from Indigenous Artist
The Northampton Arts Council cancelled its 2021 biennial exhibition days before it was to open following criticism from an Indigenous artist about a particular work and the overall selection process.
New Jersey School District Omits Librarians from Review of Several LGBTQ+ Library Books | UPDATED
A New Jersey school district did not include any librarians in its review of several challenged award-winning LGBTQ-themed library books.
Toni Morrison Book Among Those Removed from Virginia Beach School Libraries
Virginia Beach City Public Schools removed several books, including such award-winning books as A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, The Bluest Eye by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, from school libraries.
Hudson, Ohio, School District Preemptively Removes Lawn Boy From School Libraries
Hudson, Ohio, school officials improperly removed Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison from school library shelves before a review of the book was complete.
NCAC Urges Texas School District to Keep Jerry Craft Books in Libraries
Katy Independent School District in Texas removed two books by Jerry Craft from school libraries because of a parent complaint about "promoting Critical Race Theory", possibly violating the First Amendment
Parents Call for Censorship of It’s Perfectly Normal at Cass County, Missouri, Public Library
NCAC urges Missouri's Cass County Public Library to resist calls to censor It's Perfectly Normal, a book about puberty.
NCAC Objects to Removal of Out of Darkness from Lake Travis, Texas, School Libraries
NCAC has written to officials in Lake Travis Independent School District in Austin, Texas, after reports emerged that a historical novel has been removed from libraries before an official was completed, in violation of district policy.
NCAC Urges Central York, Pennsylvania, School District to Improve Policy After Diverse Book Ban Controversy
Students in York, Pennsylvania, successfully challenged a district-wide ban on diverse resource materials.
NCAC Responds to Troubling Censorship of College-Level Writing Class in Ohio High School
NCAC has written to the mayor and joined with FIRE and PEN America in a letter to the superintendent of Hudson City Schools after controversy erupted in Hudson, Ohio, over the appearance (but not use) of writing prompts that allude to sexual experience in an optional, college-level writing course, the school seized the books from students and the mayor threatened to prosecute the school board.
Artists, Curators and Advocates Condemn Florida Mayor’s Political Censorship of Coral Gables Public Art Show
In July 2021, echoing the rhetoric of the 1950s McCarthy era and in flagrant disregard of fundamental constitutional principles, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago urged the city’s commissioners to condition city funding for Illuminate Coral Gables, a public art show, on the exclusion of two of the participating artists because of their purported political views. As artists, arts professionals and free speech organizations we are deeply troubled by demands to censor a public art show so as to penalize political viewpoints.