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This has never been about parental rights. You cannot pay attention one week out of the year. Get informed. Talk to your neighbors. Vote for the freedom to read. Hold them accountable. Continue to exercise your right to share and receive ideas.

Today’s featured book is FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, a dystopian novel about a society where books are outlawed and burned to prevent people from encountering challenging ideas. Ironically, the novel itself has faced challenges and censorship over the years.

…TX was one of the 20 states where their Attorneys General co-signed this amicus brief authored by Arkansas’ Attorney General in support of Florida’s “libraries are government speech” argument defending FL’s book ban law.

Today’s book is ANNE FRANK’S DIARY: THE GRAPHIC ADAPTATION. The graphic adaptation brings Anne's experiences hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust to a new generation of readers. The book has faced challenges over sexual content & its visual depictions of passages from Anne’s diary.

All of this has always been about taking back power from a free people to decide what its current community standards are, and allowing politicians to decide what ideas, expression, and people are appropriate in our public spaces. You cannot pay attention one week out of the year.

“Parental rights” laws aren’t actually about parents having the authority to decide… “Allowing parents to raise an objection regarding material in a public-school library…does not change the fact that, at the end of the day, it is the government making the ultimate curation decision.”

“The First Amendment's focus on religion was intentional: actions motivated by non-religious beliefs (be they philosophical, political, ideological, or social) do not receive the same protection.” This is why laws that prohibit descriptions of sexual conduct in the library don’t apply to the Bible.

These arguments have appeared in white papers and legal briefs for all to see. “Natural rights…(1) give us the liberty to pursue what reason tells us is good, right, and just and (2) provide us with protection against those who want to force us to do what is evil, wrong, and unjust.”

This is what it is all about for many of the book banners—the ones that still fight to remove books long after universal vouchers are passed and they can take public money to educate their kids how they see fit. “Parental rights” are only meant to apply to those they deem morally fit to have them.

Perfect for banned books week!

It’s #BannedBooksWeek, which means it’s the perfect time to dispel common myths and misconceptions about the prevalence and impacts of book bans across the United States. Here are five common myths about book banning that everyone should know the truth about 🧵