STRONGER NEWS - Mar 2026 - Help Us Fight a National Book Ban

H.R. 7661 is a government censorship bill that is heading for a vote in the US House of Representatives, and we need your help to stop it.

Once again we see that book banning is not about the content or merits of a particular book, but rather book banning is being used as a tool to isolate, target, and discriminate against under-represented people and communities.

Using vague language, this bill would target books for kids and teens with any LGBTQIA2+ characters or content. Calling Queer people’s existence in age-appropriate children’s books “sexually oriented” is both offensive and a slippery slope: if we do not hold the line for the freedom to read in support of the Queer community’s representation, we will lose representation for everyone except the handful of people in power.

In their rallying cry against this bill, Authors Against Book Bans explain, “This is an anti-trans bill at its core, but one that also seeks to lay dangerous groundwork for even more sweeping anti-book legislation that could come in the future.”

In their statement opposing H.R. 7661, EveryLibrary adds, “This bill places the federal government in the position of dictating what young people are permitted to read by threatening to withhold funding if certain viewpoints or topics appear in school collections.”

And as Unite Against Book Bans points out, “H.R. 7661 should not become the law of the land where people value civil rights and oppose government censorship.”

WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP urges everyone reading this to:

1)    Reach out to your representative to vote NO on House Bill 7661, and to instead support the freedom—and the right—to read. Here are three ways to do so:

1.   5 calls can help you find and contact your rep
2.   This page at the US House of Representatives website can help you find your rep and contact them as well.
3.   The League of Conservation Voters has a helpful guide to calling your members of congress here.

2)    Share this call to action with your networks and community, both online and in person.

3)    Support our allied organizations’ efforts to fight this national book ban, including Authors Against Book Bans, United Against Book Bans, EveryLibrary, the American Booksellers Association, PEN America, and others.

4) Buy a sticker, buy a shirt, or donate directly to WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP as we collectively push back against book banning and get books directly into the hands of young readers for whom they’ll mean so much.

Together we will fight this, and together we will win. Remember: we are stronger than censorship!