WENTZVILLE, Mo.  — The Wentzville School District is being sued to stop the banning of certain books. The ACLU of Missouri filed the suit Wednesday on behalf of the parents of students in the district to stop the removal of books that are by and about communities of color, LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups. 

 

What You Need To Know

  • ACLU filed the suit on behalf of the parents of students in the district
  • Suit wants to stop the removal of books that are by and about communities of color, LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups.
  • Eight books have been banned
  • Other area districts have also banned books 

 

“School boards cannot ban books because the books and their characters illustrate viewpoints different of those of school board; especially when they target books presenting the viewpoints of racial and sexual minorities, as they have done in Wentzville,” stated Anthony Rothert, Director of Integrated Advocacy of ACLU of Missouri in a press release.

The ACLU says the Wentzville School board has banned the following books:

  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George Matthew Johnson
  • Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
  • Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
  • Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
  • Invisible Girl: A Novel by Lisa Jewell
  • Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
  • Modern Romance: An Investigation by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

“The first amendment protects the right to share ideas, including the right of people to receive information and knowledge," said Rothert. He went on to say we must protect this right, including educators’ and students’ rights to talk and learn about race and gender in schools.

The Wentzville School District tells Spectrum News St. Louis that it is aware of the lawsuit and is not commenting at this time. Other area school districts have also been dealing with similar book challenges. 

Two local groups, In Purpose Educational Services and Eyeseeme Bookstore, teamed up to create a program to offer banned books for free to students and parents, according to a Facebook post on one of their sites.