PEN America, an association of professional writers, reading enthusiasts, and other supporters, says on its website that it “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world.” 

One of the things PEN America does is track book bans instituted across the United States. They have documented about 23,000 books that have been banned since 2021—close to 40 percent of which deal with LGBTQ subjects. The number is likely much higher as educators quietly remove books from classrooms and libraries. 

Now, extremist legislators in the House and Senate are considering two bills in Washington, HR7661 in the House and S4925 in the Senate, that would give the federal government the power to ban books in any organization that receives federal funding. 

This is in direct violation of the First Amendment, freedom of speech. 

The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

This bill also steps into the “establishment of religion” part of the first amendment, as it specifically defines classic works of literature as those published in a book by Encyclopaedia Britannica as well as those published in two articles that appear on the website for Compass Classroom—a for-profit Christian homeschool program that is designed to “teach your kids to think biblically about the world” and trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange.

Whether it‘s outright bans or decisions by library boards to ”reclassify” books as adult so that teens and children cannot access them, only 2 in 10 Americans trust governments or non-parents to determine what their children read, and 9 in 10 public school parents believe their schools are selecting appropriate books.

Three Things You Can Do to Protect the First Amendment

• Contact your representative and senator today and tell them to vote no on HR 7661 and S. 4925. Tell them that we have the right to read and learn what we want.
• Sign the petitions for House Bill 7661 and Senate Bill 4925 if you haven’t already.
• Head to your local library and check out some of the books on the PEN America Banned Books List. Discover for yourself why these books should be on the shelves of high schools and middles schools, and add to the circulation numbers of these titles.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash