ACLU threatens legal action if Wash. state school board removes LGBTQ-themed book

KENT, Wash. (KOMO) – The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Washington is threatening to take legal action against a school district if its board votes Wednesday to remove an LGBTQ-themed book from a middle school library.

According to a release from the ACLU and staff attorney Jazmyn Clark, the ACLU was contacted by concerned Kent School District students, parents and community members regarding the removal of "Jack of Hearts (and other parts)" by L. C. Rosen from Cedar Heights Middle School. The book was recently pulled from the library, according to the release, and then put back pending a vote on the removal.

The book in question is about an "unapologetically queer teen working to uncover a blackmailer threatening him back into the closet," according to Amazon.

The board votes Wednesday, and the ACLU said it's urging the board "to retract the removal of this book."

"Banning books runs counter to the District’s nondiscrimination policy and is harmful to students," the ACLU's release said. "The District’s nondiscrimination policy plainly states that the District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity. The fact that the only book in question that is being removed under the guise of protecting youth from sexual themes happens to be an LGBTQ+ themed book is blatant discrimination and runs afoul of the District’s own policy."

The release concludes with Clark writing, "We plan to continue monitoring this situation and will determine how to proceed following the June 8, 2022 board meeting. A prompt correction to the decision to remove this book is necessary. We hope this letter has given you a firm understanding of why the action of removing this book is unconstitutional and why the Board should decide to permanently keep this title on the library shelves."