Demand Justice for Jene Newsome!

ATLANTA – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida filed an amicus brief in Parnell v. School Board of Escambia County today, arguing that the First Amendment prevents the government from removing books from school libraries for ideological reasons. And Tango Makes Three, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole, was removed from schools in Escambia County, Florida in 2023 because of its depiction of two male penguins raising a chick together. The book, based on real penguins at the Central Park Zoo, has won multiple literary awards and is widely beloved by parents and educators. Parnell and Richardson filed suit in 2023 alongside a student in Escambia County schools, arguing that the book’s removal violated the First Amendment. “Removing a book from the library explicitly because of its perceived ideological leanings is antithetical to the First Amendment,” said Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “The pedagogical value of And Tango Makes Three has never been questioned by the school board, and similar books with heterosexual penguins remain on the shelf. The government has no business deciding which types of penguins, books, or relationships we can read about.” In response to the lawsuit, Escambia County attempted to advance the argument that books in school libraries are government speech and therefore exempt from First Amendment protections. In October, a federal judge in the Northern District of Florida sidestepped the government speech argument but nevertheless ruled in Escambia County’s favor, saying school libraries are not a public forum and therefore the First Amendment does not apply. “Students deserve to see families that look like theirs reflected in the books they read, and to have the opportunity to read about people (and penguins) that differ from themselves,” said Shana Knizhnik, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “This case is about more than one picture book: it’s about whether the government can control what we write, what we read, and what we share with one another. Students in Escambia County have every right to check out And Tango Makes Three or any other book they want without fear that the government will take it off the shelf for political reasons.” Plaintiffs filed an appeal with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in October. The ACLU’s amicus brief outlines why the government speech doctrine does not apply to library catalog curation and that the First Amendment applies to library book removals. The ACLU’s amicus brief can be read here.

WASHINGTON–Today, the American Civil Liberties Union condemned the Trump administration’s latest proposals to implement two nationwide rules that would significantly shut down access in hospitals to gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. The proposed measures follow the recent House passage of legislation aimed at criminalizing such care and represent an unprecedented federal intrusion into the private medical decisions of families and their doctors. The administration’s proposal seeks to block the provision of evidence-based, medically necessary care for transgender people under 18—care that is supported by every major medical association in the United States, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. “These gratuitous proposals are cruel and unconstitutional attacks on the rights of transgender youth and their families,” said Chase Strangio, Co-Director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “By attempting to strip away essential healthcare, the administration is not 'protecting' anyone; it is weaponizing the federal government to target a vulnerable population for political gain. Healthcare decisions belong to families and their doctors, not politicians. The latest proposals from the administration would force doctors to choose between their ethical obligations to their patients and the threat of losing federal funding. It would uproot families who have already fled state-level bans, leaving them with nowhere to turn for the care they need to survive and thrive. “We have seen the devastating consequences of similar policies at the state level, and we have fought them every step of the way. Let us be clear: If this administration moves forward with this attempt to enact a national ban on our medical care through coercion, the ACLU will see them in court. We will not rest until the rights of transgender youth to live authentically and access the care they need are fully protected.”

WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives voted 216-211 to pass a bill sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that would criminalize the provision of gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18 and subject providers to hefty fines and up to 10 years in federal prison. If ultimately enacted, the bill would have immediate and devastating effects on the lives of transgender youth and their families across the country. These medical and mental health treatments, commonly referred to as gender-affirming medical care, are supported by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. At the same time that the legislation criminalizes care for transgender youth, it explicitly endorses non-consensual surgical procedures on intersex youth and infants. “Politicians should never prohibit parents from doing what is best for their transgender children,” said Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy & Government Affairs at the ACLU. “These families often spend years considering how best to support their children, only to have ill-equipped politicians interfere by attempting to criminalize the health care that they, their children, and their doctors believe is necessary to allow their children to thrive. But this bill also creates an incredibly dangerous precedent far beyond the specific care at issue, criminalizing care based on ideology and placing Washington politicians between families and their doctors. We strongly condemn the passage of this measure and urge members of the Senate to do everything in their power to prevent it from ever becoming law.” On Thursday, the House will also vote on a measure led by Rep. Dan Crenshaw that would prohibit Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming medical care for those under the age of 18. At the same time that this medically necessary health care would be prohibited for transgender youth, it explicitly endorses and allows coverage for surgical procedures on intersex youth and infants, which are frequently performed without the individual’s own consent.