Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) is looking to combat the widespread Republican push to ban books that mention race, gender and sexuality with a new bill.
Pressley introduced the bill, dubbed the Books Save Lives Act, during a floor speech on Thursday morning. The bill, obtained by HuffPost, aims to counteract conservative book bans by classifying such bans as a federal civil rights violation, and by requiring schools and libraries to include book collections from diverse authors and topics.
Far-right lawmakers, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, across the country have restricted ― or attempted to restrict ― students and youth from reading books on race, gender, sexuality and other topics under the guise of fighting “woke indoctrination.”
“Rather than honor the brilliance and diversity of our authors, illustrators and librarians, Republicans are focused on further marginalizing people who already face systemic discrimination in our society ― including people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, religious minorities and people with disabilities ― through discriminatory book bans,” Rep. Pressley told HuffPost.
The Books Save Lives Act would challenge these local and state book ban laws by requiring that certain public libraries and school libraries maintain collections of books about underrepresented groups, or books written by people from underrepresented groups.
The Books Save Lives Act would also categorize book bans as discriminatory and, depending on the ban, a violation of multiple laws — including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or the Education Amendments of 1972.
The bill applies to public libraries that receive federal financial assistance and schools controlled by local governments that receive federal financial assistance. The bill also describes underrepresented community members as people that fall into a racial or ethnic minority group; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or nonbinary; people who are members of a religious minority; or people who have a disability.
During the 2022-23 school year, PEN America tracked 3,362 book bans nationally targeting 1,557 books. This represented a 33% increase from the previous year, according to the PEN report. The bans primarily took place in Florida — though Texas, Missouri, Utah and Pennsylvania followed. The Books Save Lives Act also comes after California banned book bans in the state as a response to the GOP’s efforts to censor titles.
The bill would require that the Comptroller General of the United States generate a report about the impact of said book bans across the country on underrepresented groups.
“Every reader deserves to see themselves reflected in our literature – and our bill would help make that a reality for all,” Pressley told HuffPost.
Pressley said during her speech Thursday morning that Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” helped her conquer the sexual abuse she faced as a child.
“It was the first time in my life I knew I was not alone and it helped me move forward,” she said. “So when I say that books save lives, I mean that.”