Book Bans: How Parents Can Take Action
In recent years, a growing number of book bans have arisen around the country targeting material about race, gender, and sexuality. For the concerned parents, teachers, and students affected by these policies, there are ways to take action.
Updated September 2025
What are book bans?
Book bans are laws or policies brought by legislatures, school boards, or others with power over a student’s learning that mandate the removal of books from classrooms and libraries. Bans can include books that kids may bring from home to school. Sometimes, these policies aren’t complete bans, instead requiring parental permission or establishing an age restriction on certain titles.
2,452
unique titles were threatened or banned in 2024.
2xs
more book bans were attempted between 2021 and 2022 according to the American Library Association.
43%
of book ban attempts resulted in a complete prohibition of the books in question in the 2023-2024 school year.
What kinds of books are being censored?
According to PEN America, in 2022-23:
- 38% of books that were banned covered topics on health and wellbeing for students
- 20% of books that were banned included characters of color or discussions of race and racism
- 26% of books that were banned included LGBTQ+ characters or themes
PEN America’s report “Banned in the USA: Beyond the Shelves” has more in depth data, including state-by-state data on book banning attempts
What’s driving the attempts to ban books about race, sexuality, and gender?
Book banning is broadly unpopular in the United States. In fact, 7 in 10 voters are strongly opposed to banning books from public libraries. The reality is that book ban attempts are driven by a small minority of people affiliated with well-funded national political organizations, like Moms for Liberty. Research shows that most book banning attempts in the 2021-22 school year were filed by the same 11 people, and many requests to ban books are filed by people who do not even have a child enrolled in a public school in the district.
You may have heard of the Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor which allows parents to opt-out of material they object to in some circumstances. School officials or community members may attempt to remove LGBTQI+ inclusive books and materials from the classroom based on this case. Nothing in Mahmoud v. Taylor bans books or prevents a school from providing LGBTQI+ inclusive books. For more information please see an overview of the case here.
What can you do about book bans in your school district?
Report censorship
One of the simplest ways to help is to report book-banning attempts to the American Library Association. Reports from parents, teachers, and students provide us with the data necessary to understand where these banning attempts are coming from and where we need to be fighting back.
Connect with local groups
Fighting back as a community is less daunting than going it alone. Your local LGBTQ+ community center or PFLAG chapter may be a great place to start.
Speak out
Parent and student testimony at school boards, state legislatures, and even in one-on-one conversations with educators are the most powerful ways of showing that most parents are against book bans. The following resources might be helpful:
- Red, Wine, and Blue’s guides, online trainings, and in-person groups
Assert your legal rights
Sometimes book bans can violate your child’s legal rights by creating a hostile learning environment for them. Family Equality’s Title IX guide can help you with the process of filing a discrimination complaint.
This information was prepared and distributed by Family Equality.
[email protected] | www.familyequality.org
Family Equality exists to create a world where everyone can experience the unconditional love, safety, and belonging of family. Our mission is to ensure that everyone has the freedom to find, form, and sustain their families by advancing equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community.
A note on Mahmoud v. Taylor
You may have heard of the Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor which allows parents to opt-out of material they object too in some circumstances. School officials or community members may attempt to remove LGBTQI+ inclusive books and materials from the classroom based on this case. Nothing in Mahmoud v. Taylor bans books or prevents a school from providing LGBTQI+ inclusive books.
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Family Equality Responds to Supreme Court Decision in Mahmoud. v. Taylor
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