LGBT

Defend LGBTQ Stories: A Resource

By |2020-08-31T18:50:26-04:00February 28th, 2019|Resources|

Despite hard-won progress towards LGBTQ equality, books centering LGBTQ characters and stories remain among the most frequently challenged and banned in schools and libraries. The freedom to read stories about people of diverse sexual and gender identities can validate and empower all youth, especially those who may identify as LGBTQ. When LGBTQ youth do not see themselves represented in [...]

“Two Boys Kissing” could be purged from Fauquier High School library

By |2020-01-03T14:43:56-05:00April 23rd, 2014|Incidents|

Update: A review committee unanimously decided to keep the book, though an appeal is possible. NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project has written the Fauquier County Public Schools superintendent and board with regard to a challenge to David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing in the Fauquier High School library, because of objections to the same-sex themes explored in the book. We [...]

Truly Free Speech Protects Kids From Bullying

By |2020-01-03T13:43:02-05:00July 29th, 2011|Blog|

Photo by rosipaw on Flicrk This week, Stephanie Mencimer at MotherJones.com reported on horrifying cases of harassment and suicides in the Anoka-Hennepin schools  of Minnesota, in Rep. Michelle Bachman’s district. The article, published within days of a suit filed against the district by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has further mobilized advocates calling for expanded anti-bullying policies and [...]

Clough Stands By Decision To Pull “A Fire In My Belly” From Hide/Seek

By |2020-01-03T13:40:35-05:00April 27th, 2011|Blog|

Despite concerns the Smithsonian's Flashpoints and Faultlines forum would be a bland showcase designed to obscure the institution's commitments to First Amendment principles instead of examining them, last night's opening panels included direct criticism from the dais of Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough's decision to censor David Wojnarowicz's "A Fire In My Belly" from the Hide/Seek exhibit at the [...]

The National Portrait Gallery Betrays Constitutional Principles

By |2016-05-19T12:39:00-04:00December 3rd, 2010|Incidents|

A joint statement by the NCAC, ABFFE, AICA-USA, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, AAP, Catholics for Choice, and other art and free speech organizations protesting the removal of David Wojnarowicz’s 1987 video Fire in My Belly from the National Portrait Gallery in response to pressure from the Catholic League and Republicans in Congress.

Knoxville to Students: No LGBT Websites

By |2016-01-25T10:59:34-05:00May 19th, 2009|Incidents|

6/23/2009 updated 11/5/2010 — In April 2009, students in Knoxville, Tennessee successfully challenged the Internet filtering policy in place at their school which was blocking access to LGBT websites. After the ACLU filed a lawsuit on the students' behalf, the school districts in question consented to change the filter settings that were unconstitutionally blocking the websites.

Knoxville to Students: No LGBT Websites

By |2020-01-03T13:26:40-05:00April 20th, 2009|Blog|

In February 2009, NCAC and the ACLU of Tennessee jointly responded to a situation at a Knoxville, TN high school where internet filters are currently blocking constitutional protected material on the web, specifically sites that provide political and educational content around LGBT issues. The censorship was discovered by Andrew Emmitt, a senior at Central High School: When I found out [...]

If you don’t see something, say something.

By |2020-01-03T13:19:51-05:00February 13th, 2009|Blog|

Recently NCAC was contacted by a high school student who was having difficulty accessing particular LGBT websites from his school. Upon further investigation this student uncovered the likely culprit- an internet filtering policy that includes the blocking of “Sites that provide information, promote, or cater to gays, lesbians, swingers, other sexual orientations or practices, or a particular fetish.” The policy [...]

Sex-Related Censorship on the Rise

By |2017-06-08T11:40:47-04:00September 1st, 1997|Blog|

ProChoice IDEA - Summer/Fall 1997 Sex and the Censors Censorship of anything related to sex is on the rise. Here are some recent examples:  The police in Oklahoma City seized copies of the Academy-Award winning film, The Tin Drum, after a local group complained about it and a judge called it "obscene." The Wall Street Journal reported that the new [...]

New Hampshire Teacher Fired for Teaching “Unsuitable” Books Reinstated by School Board

By |2017-06-08T11:20:00-04:00September 1st, 1996|Blog|

Penny Culliton, a New Hampshire teacher who fought back against attempts to smear and ultimately fire her, has been reinstated by the Mascenic School Board following a decision of the state's Public Employee Labor Relations Board. The Labor Board upheld an arbitrator's previous award that had turned Culliton's dismissal into a one-year suspension.

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