The Northern Justice Project (NJP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska filed a motion on Tuesday for a preliminary injunction to return 56 book titles to Mat-Su Borough School District (MSBSD) library shelves. Both institutions are claiming that the primary reason these books were removed is due to their LGBTQ themes and/or their having protagonists of color.
The injunction cites quotes made by members of the public, Mat-Su Borough School Board, and Mat-Su Assembly during a Mar. 28 joint assembly/school board meeting, after which the school board made the decision to pull the books 56 from its shelves. In these quotes there are references to community concerns over the inclusion of certain LGBTQ themes in addition to concerns like the written portrayal of pornographic content.
The MSBSD has established an ad-hoc committee to review the removed books, which include titles like The Bluest Eye, Slaughterhouse Five, and The Kite Runner, and determine whether or not they are appropriate for school libraries. The NJP and ACLU, however, believe that the primary motivation for the temporary ban is to remove LGBTQ themes as well as books with protagonists of color.
“There are direct quotes from members of the district and the board that specifically call out their concerns with protagonists of color and LGBTQ characters and authors, and that was the primary reason for them wanting to ban the books,” said Meghan Barker, Communications Director for ACLU of Alaska.
Savannah Fletcher, one of the NJP attorneys who filed the injunction says the MSBSD made its decision based on the concerns of a small number of community members. “The school gave no reason other than that they received individual complaints,” Fletcher said in a call to KSRM. “In looking at the types of books that were removed, a lot of them kind of pull up those national debates and target themes that we’ve seen from book removals across the entire country.”
In fact, the injunction doubles down on this language, stating, “The Board’s action was taken in direct response to public comments from a small but vocal minority.”
Barker with the ACLU of Alaska spoke in similar terms. “They’re all lumped together in the same rationale for, you know, banning because of the LGBTQ theme.”
In a joint press release put out by the NJP and ACLU of Alaska, Fletcher echoed this sentiment saying, “The District removed fifty-six books from all school libraries because of the books’ LGBTQ themes or protagonists of color that a few in the community disagree with. This is censorship, plain and simple, and it violates the First Amendment. Until the courts can review the merits of the case, these books must be returned to school shelves.”
When asked about this quote, however, Fletcher indicated the MSBSD might not have pulled the books down for such unequivocal reasons. “No, I don’t think necessarily every single book falls into every single one of the reasons in our press release.”
The injunction is the NJP’s and ACLU’s second step following a lawsuit they filed in November against the MSBSD for the books’ removal. While no hearing of the injunction has been set, the groups are hoping the judge will set a hearing for the motion for preliminary injunction in the near future.
