We’re proud to partner with the Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools initiative in a nationwide day readings of I Am Jazz, one of the most challenged books in the country. More than 50 readings are planned for the day, with more than 3,500 people in two dozen states pledging to take part.
Late last year, the conservative advocacy group Liberty Counsel threatened to file a lawsuit against Mount Horeb Area School District in Wisconsin for planning a reading and discussion of the picture book I Am Jazz in its Primary Center in support of one of its students. The district, after receiving the threat, decided to cancel the November 23rd reading. But it didn’t end there.
Over 200 students and community members literally rallied around the flagpole for a reading one morning before school, and later, more than 600 packed the Mount Horeb library for another reading. The district’s school board came out with a strong statement in support of transgender students and against bullying – of their students, and of the district itself:
Let the word go forth here and now that this board will stand united and we will not be intimidated and we will teach tolerance and will be accepting to everyone.
NCAC sent a letter of support to the district last year, and we continue to stand with individuals all over the country in their right to access information and literature. We stand with their right to read.
Follow the I Am Jazz day of action events on Twitter at #ClosetheBookonHate and #LoveConquersHate.
If you’re facing a challenge to LGBTQ books in your community, check out our resource, and read more about some notable LGBTQ books under fire.
