As the ACLU & other organizations address the national book banning crisis in our nation’s libraries Sheila Nevins now head of MTV Documentary Films & former president of HBO Documentary Films has directed & produced “The ABC's of Book Banning” a 27-minute account of resistance to book bans in Martin County, Fla. The must-see short doc is currently available on numerous streaming services & focuses on Florida children’s opinions on the freedom to read. In the meantime this epidemic against free speech is spreading across the nation. In New Hampshire there has been a controversy in recent months since the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education (DOE) suggested that the Dover School District consider whether or not to ban the books “Boy Toy” & “Gender Queer” from its high school library on the basis of “developmental inappropriateness” though “Gender Queer” was not actually available at that library. This suggestion came after the DOE released an unworkable, unclear & overly broad “Objectionable Material Policy'' in September 2023. The ACLU of New Hampshire & GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) have sent a letter to Frank Edelblut the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education warning that his department’s communications with the Dover School District are “alarming & extraordinary” & that the DOE’s insinuations that the District should consider whether or not to ban two books as “developmentally inappropriate” could create First Amendment concerns if such a ban occurred. Open your eyes America & address these attempts to strip of our rights in plain sight.
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