US Education Department Investigating After Texas Superintendent Orders Removal of LGBTQ Books
The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent ordered librarians to remove LGBTQ+ books from the library. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights notified the Granbury Independent School District officials on December 6 that it had opened the investigation following a July complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union. Texas superintendent Jeremy Glenn was recorded telling librarians, “I acknowledge that there are men that think they’re women and there are women that think they’re men.I don’t have any issues with what people want to believe, but there’s no place for it in our libraries.” The ACLU wrote in their complain that the district’s decision to remove these books fostered a “pervasively hostile” environment for LGBTQ students. “In this case it was made very clear, because the superintendent kind of said the quiet part out loud,” ACLU attorney Chloe Kempf said in an interview. “It’s pretty clear that that kind of motivation is animating a lot of these policies nationwide.”
Ukrainian Publishers Fight On
Ukraine’s publishing industry has experienced many disruptions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24. Warehouses have been destroyed, logistics are breaking down, and employees are being displaced, all while Russia continues its attempts to undermine Ukrainian culture. Additionally, at least 31 Ukrainian writers and artists and have been killed since the war started, and at least 49 libraries and archives have been damaged or destroyed. Russian soldiers have also seized and destroyed Ukrainian literature in many cities. Still, Ukrainian publishers fight on. According to Chytomo, the online trade magazine of the Ukrainian publishing industry, 85.9% of Ukraine’s publishers were operational in late September, and the remaining 14.1% were at least partially at work. Compare this to April, when only 39% were operational. Furthermore, some Ukrainian publishers have reported an increase in sales, partially because of Ukrainians’ refusal to read Russian books. “The emphasis has noticeably shifted to the publications of Ukrainian authors,” representatives of publish company Old Lion told Chytomo. “The absence of Russian books has created a gap in the market we are happy to fill.”
Nick Cutter’s The Deep Getting Series Adaptation at Amazon
Nick Cutter’s underwater thriller The Deep is getting a series adaptation at Amazon. The series comes from C. Henry Chaisson, writer of Antlers and Apple series Servant. Chaisson will write and executive produce. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate will also serve as executive producers for Fabel Entertainment.
We Are More Than Our History: On Also Reading Books About Joy
Books about Jewish history and tragedy are important…but as important, and often missing, are books on Jewish joy.