In a case that resembles what happened to an Anchorage man who was recently silenced during an Anchorage School Board meeting, a Georgia-based parental rights group has won a federal First Amendment case against a school district that barred parents from reading excerpts from controversial school library books during board meetings.

Last year, the Forsyth County School Board banned two concerned mothers from exposing graphic sexual books in the school system.

As reported by Fox News, in February of 2022, Alison Hair read portions of the book “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” that was available at her son’s middle school library during a school board meeting. 

“I know that you give someone a blow job by putting your penis…” she read, before being interrupted by one of the board members and prohibited from reading any further.

Whether the Anchorage School Board will attempt to bar parents who read material that is provided to their children remains to be seen.

Hair tried to read from the book a second time at a subsequent board meeting, which prompted the school board to ban her from all its meetings until she agreed to comply with their public participation policy.

The legal group, Institute For Free Speech, then stepped in to represent Hair and her group of moms called “Mama Bears.” They filed a lawsuit in July 2022, and a federal judge ruled in November that the Georgia school board’s participation policy was unconstitutional and could not be enforced. Additionally, the judge ordered the school district to pay the Mama Bear’s attorneys $107,500.

Similarly, last month, an Anchorage father was cut off during public testimony at an Anchorage School Board meeting when he began reading excerpts from “Let’s Talk About It,” a highly graphic book – available in some of Anchorage’s school libraries. The book instructs students in how to create sexualized photos of themselves, research porn stars and engage in anal sex.

While the Anchorage School Board has not flat out barred parents from raising concerns about controversial books, they have blocked them from using their three minute public testimony time to read excerpts from the objectionable books which are available in local schools. Additionally, some educators have been calling for the school board to enforce rules against allowing parents to read these books during meetings.

Whether the Anchorage School Board will attempt to bar parents who read material that is provided to their children remains to be seen.

Thanks to the federal ruling, the Georgia mom’s group continues to read excerpts from highly sexualize school library books during each school board meeting.

TAKING ACTION

— Click here to contact Anchorage School Board members.

— Click here for information on how to participate in the March 7 Anchorage School Board meeting.

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