(Photo by gOrlica/Bigstock)
Democracy Forward has filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS), challenging a state regulation that restricts public libraries from purchasing books for young readers that contain material related to transgender people and gender identity.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of authors– Christyl “Kit” Rosewater, Page Powars, Phoenix McDonald – and Read Freely Alabama, a non-profit dedicated to protecting against censorship in Alabama. Rosewater spoke to the Blade days before the lawsuit went public. Rosewater’s young adult novel, “Buried Feelings,” features a transgender character and is advertised to readers under 18.
The APLS was established to coordinate library services and provide funding to municipalities and counties across Alabama. However, the lawsuit alleges that the agency has instead used its authority over state funding to pressure libraries into removing and restricting access to books based on the content preferences of its unelected Executive Board members.
At the center of the lawsuit is Ala. Admin. Code §520-2-2-.03(2)(j), which requires libraries receiving state funding to relocate materials deemed “inappropriate for children or youth” to adult-only sections. The regulation also requires libraries to adopt written purchasing criteria preventing the acquisition of materials advertised for readers under 18 that contain obscenity, sexually explicit content or other material deemed inappropriate for young people.
Initially, the regulation did not define what constituted inappropriate material. The APLS subsequently amended its rules to specifically include “any materials regarding transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders.”
Under the amended rule, libraries must remove or relocate materials containing such content to adult sections to remain eligible for state funding.
The lawsuit argues that the regulation unfairly targets transgender people and restricts minors’ access to constitutionally protected materials. It also contends that the rule is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad because it does not establish clear boundaries for what libraries can purchase or retain.
The complaint notes that APLS Executive Board Chairman John Wahl has suggested the definition could extend beyond the listed examples to include “excessive violence” and “excessive drug use.”
The plaintiffs argue that the regulation could also implicate widely recognized literary works, including Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” which features a character expressing disappointment about not being born a boy; William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” which includes a male character disguising himself in women’s clothing; and David Levithan’s “Every Day,” which follows a genderless spirit inhabiting different people’s bodies.
Rosewater said she has experienced book censorship before, including canceled author events, but the Alabama regulation presented an opportunity to challenge a statewide policy rather than respond to individual incidents.
“I feel like in all of the other circumstances that I’ve learned, a book was already pulled from a library or I had a classroom visit canceled,” Rosewater told the Washington Blade. “It felt like something I had to just deal with the reaction and move forward. But with the policy in Alabama, I also was learning about all of the really great work that Democracy Forward was doing pushing back on other policies in other states.”
With the help of her publisher, Penguin Random House, Rosewater connected with Democracy Forward to challenge the regulation.
She said the statewide implications made the fight particularly important, warning that policies restricting books in one state can influence library decisions elsewhere.
“It’s not enough to have the book available for purchase in a state if it’s not going to be available to be checked out as a public resource,” she said. “States influence each other all the time. Like library policies, policies influence other librarians, and there’s this chill factor that happens even in states that don’t have the policies already enacted.”
“Buried Feelings” is a young adult romance told from the perspective of Ivy, a queer cisgender girl, whose love interest, Cam, is a transgender boy. The story follows their relationship as Cam transitions and the two navigate how their feelings for one another evolve. Set in San Francisco, the novel also incorporates LGBTQ history, including the legacy of Harvey Milk and the city’s lesser-known queer history.
Rosewater said she wanted to write a story exploring how people can grow together while their identities and experiences change.
The book has been named a Gold Standard Selection by the Junior Library Guild and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Rosewater emphasized that the novel contains no depictions of sexual activity and argued that its challenge has nothing to do with explicit content.
“It’s really important for me to have the public know– and to have readers know – this is truly being challenged for one person’s identity, and for no smut content in the book,” she said. “There’s none of it.”
Rosewater said the book was written for LGBTQ readers, transgender young people and allies seeking to better understand transgender experiences.
She hopes the lawsuit draws attention to what she described as the harmful conflation of transgender identities with age-inappropriate content. She also emphasized that challenging the regulation is about preserving families’ ability to decide which books their children can access.
“Nobody is saying you need to read my book, you need to read this person’s book. It’s about having the freedom and the choice to do so, and specifically, we’re talking about the freedom of families,” she said. “Caregivers and parents should be able to be the ones who decide which books their kids have access to. It shouldn’t be a decision made by this distant party of people, right? But then kind of imposed on the state as a whole.”
The restrictions have also created financial consequences for Rosewater, who said public libraries play an important role in introducing readers to authors and their work. Although library patrons can borrow books for free, libraries purchase copies for their collections, creating sales opportunities for authors and publishers.
Rosewater said losing access to library collections means losing opportunities to reach readers who might otherwise discover her work and purchase future books.
“Anytime my book gets censored anywhere, that’s at least one connection to a reader that I’ve lost, and it adds up,” she said. “It’s impactful beyond being just heartbreaking. It really sort of limits the scope of my role as an author.”
She also warned that restrictions on library acquisitions can discourage other libraries and schools from purchasing challenged books, further limiting their circulation.
For young transgender readers, Rosewater said access to stories featuring characters like Cam can help them understand their identities and feel less isolated.
“When you don’t see yourself reflected in media, you come to believe that that part of you, it doesn’t validate,” she said. “It deprives kids of community. It deprives kids of support. It deprives kids of knowing that they’re wonderful as they are, and nothing is wrong with them.”
Rosewater added that books featuring transgender characters can also help other young readers develop empathy and understanding.
“I want to fight as hard as I can to keep transgender characters in stories because we need to see them whether you identify as transgender or gender queer or not,” she said.
The Alabama Public Library Service responded to a Blade inquiry but declined to comment.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
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