The Authors Guild is actively opposing HR 7661, the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act.”

The bill would link federal school funding to specific reading requirements—including a narrow, decades-old set of “classic” works, largely by white male authors, and materials from a Christian homeschool curriculum—and would impose a nationwide ban on books that mention gender dysphoria or transgender topics in public schools.

As we explained when the bill was first introduced in early March, the true purpose of HR 7661 is not to protect children but to silence LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized voices. Young people who are already targets of escalating political attacks from their own government would be further erased from the books to which they have access. That is not child protection. That is censorship.

The bill has since passed out of committee and moved to the House floor. Last week we signed onto a publishing industry statement along with hundreds of other organizations, including Penguin Random House (with whom we are co-plaintiffs in three lawsuits against state book banning laws), Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Lee & Low Books, and other members of the Right to Read Working Group. This joint statement is as follows:

Statement in Opposition to H.R. 7661

The freedom to speak and to read is a fundamental principle of the United States of America. That is why we have joined together — parents, students, educators, library workers, authors, free expression advocates, booksellers, and publishers — to stand in support of our nation’s school-aged children and teens and in opposition to H.R. 7661.

H.R. 7661, if passed, will compel nationwide book censorship. It confuses obscenity with identity and stigmatizes vulnerable young people, particularly trans children and teens, based on who they are. It will continue to drain funding from our already underfunded schools and libraries. And it will threaten the creativity and critical thinking that are vital to education in the U.S.

A core principle of democracy, freedom, and liberty is that the government does not choose what people get to read and who they get to be. This country has a long history of protecting our freedoms. H.R. 7661 goes against this.

Together, we say that this bill goes against the U.S. Constitution, local self-determination, access to books, and a society that is welcoming for everyone, no matter who they are. Our schools deserve better than this. Our children and teens — all of them, without exception — deserve better than this. 

We urge the U.S. House of Representatives to vote NO on H.R. 7661 or, better yet, to not take it up for a vote at all.

We continue to ask our members and others to reach out to their representatives and urge them to stop this bill in its tracks.

Look up your representative here and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 7661.