1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I'm asking you to oppose book bans in our state that violate the First Amendment rights of students, teachers, and authors. These laws are spreading across the country and represent government censorship of constitutionally protected speech. Book ban laws typically remove books from school libraries based on vague criteria about sexual content, regardless of literary merit or educational value. They reach far beyond obscenity standards to prohibit books for any age group. Public school libraries exist to provide diverse materials for voluntary learning, not to enforce a single narrow viewpoint. Students have a right to access information without government interference. Many of these laws also prohibit any program or promotion relating to gender identity or sexual orientation in elementary grades. This means students can't join Gender Sexuality Alliances or see information about these groups. Some laws force schools to out transgender students to their parents, potentially exposing vulnerable kids to harm at home. Censorship doesn't protect children. It isolates LGBT students, limits all students' access to information, and turns teachers into enforcers of government-mandated silence. Defend freedom of speech by opposing book bans in our state.