Across the country, state lawmakers are considering legislation that aims to ban teaching books with LGBTQ themes and punish teachers for exposing students to material that addresses sexuality and gender expression.
Proposed legislation in several states attempts to ban teaching about sexuality and social justice in classrooms.
In a case seen as a test of whether text-only fiction can be considered legally obscene, the host of erotic fiction archive Mr Double faces seven obscenity charges.
Lauded graphic novel Fun Home was removed from high school classrooms by a principal in Nevada, violating district policy and threatening students' right to read.
A Massachusetts middle school has decided to retain Sex is a Funny Word, an award-winning book about puberty, after its removal from the library was demanded by a small number of parents.
Lawmakers challenging introduction of comprehensive sex ed are calling for ban on popular sexual health guide in schools and libraries.
NCAC and artist Spencer Tunick created a nude art action in front of Facebook and Instagram's New York City headquarters as part of their #WeTheNipple campaign against art censorship on social media.
ALA's Most Challenged Books list for 2018 is dominated by LGBTQ stories and characters, reflecting a growing trend.
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 [...]
A library in Kansas is considering a second challenge to three widely-lauded LGBTQ books for youth.
Maine lawmaker's attempts to label educational material obscene threatens intellectual freedom.
On December 17th, Tumblr permanently banned adult content from its platform. Under the new community guidelines, any image that depicts sex acts, real-life human genitalia, or (with a few exceptions) female nipples will be hidden from public view. Despite the company’s claims, the new guidelines will not create a “better, more positive” Tumblr.
NCAC supports the Houston Public Library’s commitment to open and diverse programming.
A group of pastors in Rumford, Maine are attempting to have LGBTQ books banned from the Rumford Public Library's display of banned books.
Controversy arose over the announcement that the library would host the family-focused program, which features reading, singing and crafts presided over by drag queens.
NCAC is calling on public libraries of Washington County, Utah to reconsider a ban on LGBTQ displays. Joined by the National Council of Teachers of English and Lambda Legal, the letter warns that the ban poses a serious threat to equal rights and freedom of expression and sets a dangerous precedent by perpetuating a culture of prejudice and intolerance. “A [...]
Kick off summer with NCAC's recommendations for books that amplify LGBTQ stories and voices, and that are frequently banned in schools!
Fun Home is under attack again, this time in a New Jersey High School.
A group called the Concerned Parents of San Diego held their children from school to protest the district's Sexual Health Education Program, SHEP. Among the material the group finds objectionable is the award-winning It's Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris.
After anonymous complaints about brief images of sexual acts in an avant-garde film shown in class, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design launched a sexual harassment investigation. Saul Levine, the professor teaching the class and the target of the investigation, who is also a well-regarded avant-garde filmmaker, resigned in protest. This incident raises serious concerns beyond the individual case.
More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the removal of a Balthus painting in response to “the current climate around sexual assault and allegations that become more public each day.” The Met has refused to remove the work.
David Levithan, an award-winning author and editor of dozens of books, will be honored along with former NCAC Executive Director Joan Bertin, at the NCAC Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders on Nov. 6 in New York.
The board met on Monday night to review their literature policy in light of the controversy but voted unanimously to keep it unchanged.
The book, which tells Jazz’s story of struggle with having “a girl brain but a boy body,” was brought to school in June by a transitioning kindergartner at Rocklin Academy Gateway School.
NCAC is praising the grassroots efforts of Chicagoans who have set an example for the rest of the country.
A formal complaint was lodged by a local parent who was offended by the presence of profanity in the book, which includes passages that reference sexual assault.
Oklahoma LGBT activists are calling into question a local library policy that limits the placement of LGBT-themed books to sections that hold books on sensitive topics such as drug use, incarceration and sexual abuse.
VOYA dismissed critics of its recommendation. But why are VOYA readers rightly concerned?
David Wojnarowicz (born 1954, died 1992) Untitled (Buffalo), 1988-89. Vintage gelatin silver print, signed on verso, 28⅝x35¾; inches. Collection of Michael Sodomick, Courtesy of the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P.P.O.W Gallery, New York In statements reminiscent of the culture wars of the 1990s, three Republican lawmakers in Cobb County, Georgia have attacked a museum exhibition that [...]
Parents in Michigan are very upset about a Toni Morrison novel being taught in an AP English class.
It looks like a Tennessee high school will have a gay-straight alliance club after all. But do the district's new rules for all clubs go too far?
Students are speaking out against legislation that would require parental notification of the teaching of "sexually explicit content" in public schools.
A bill that would require Virginia public schools to notify parents about 'sexually explicit content' should be vetoed by the governor, a coalition of literary and free speech groups argue.
A local businessman wants a Florida city council to bar performances in a publicly-owned theater that he deems inappropriate.
A Virginia bill that would require public schools to notify parents of "sexually explicit content" poses a profound threat to public education and First Amendment principles.
At Franklin County High School in Tennessee, some students and parents are outraged by the very existence of the Gay-Straight Alliance.
A series of proposed changes to the sex ed curriculum in Omaha, Nebraska generated intense opposition late last year, with hundreds of angry parents packing a meeting to denounce plans to teach students about gender identity, emergency contraception, and abortion. Now it is up to the board to decide how and what students will learn.
A reconsideration review committee that met on December 3 decided in a 7-4 vote to retain copies of Gayle Foreman’s award-winning young adult novel Just One Day in Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public School libraries.
Parents of a middle school student were upset to find their child read the novel 'One Fine Day.' So they want it removed from four school libraries in the district.
Is there a new sex panic taking place in academia? Sexual expression is once again under attack as harmful to women, and possibly as a form of sexual harassment.
