Image from Erin in the Morning: (White text over a rainbow flag) “Only 0.03% Opt Out of LGBTQ+ Education In Maryland After SCOTUS Gives Them A Right To. After SCOTUS gave families a right to opt out of LGBTQ+ education, Montgomery County, Maryland is reporting only 43 families too them up on it.” www.erininthemorning.com

October 17, 2025

There is so much devastating news out there. Today, I’m happy to share signs of hope!

How Much Are Parents Using Mahmoud v. Taylor to Censor Education?

When my book was caught up in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor about parental opt-outs from LGBTQ+ picture books, I wondered: How would parents respond after the Supreme Court allowed religious opt-outs? After all, despite the recent rash of censorship, book banning remains unpopular across political lines. The American Library Association reports that:

• 90% of voters and 92% of parents “have a favorable opinion of librarians who work in local public libraries and school libraries.”
• 71% of voters “oppose efforts to have books removed from their local public libraries” (75% of Democrats, 58% of independents, and 70% of Republicans).

But also…censorship is still sweeping this country, even if organized by a tiny handful of highly-organized people.

There is no question that Mahmoud is a blow to public education across the nation. It may have already triggered silent censorship, something impossible to measure. School districts are now required to publicize their curriculum in advance, leaving little room to respond immediately to current events or important events in students’ lives. It also places an unreasonable burden on educators to censor any facts or representation about whole people groups, at parental request. The advance notice requirement itself can pressure educators to avoid any topic or book that someone might object to, rather than risking backlash. Nevertheless, many communities are boldly declaring their commitment to supporting all students and factual education. May this continue! (Support for educators and parents here: ACLU, NEA, NWLC.) While we are still waiting to grasp the full impact of this decision, a telling bit of evidence arrived in October.

Montgomery County (MoCo), Maryland, where Mahmoud originated, released its report on the number of opt-out requests for their district. What happened?

First, the Bad News

While Mahmoud focused on early elementary students, the opt-outs were requested for elementary through high school students. Some parents censored LGBTQ+-inclusive books for their children, which were the focus of the legal arguments. As I feared, parents also opted their children out of books about Native women, Black experience, police violence, and racism. I’m not sure how parents are justifying such topics as “oppressive” to their free exercise of religion at home. (Although…religion has been misused to justify crusades, colonialism, genocide, slavery, segregation, and domestic violence. So…).

The results in MoCo reflect what has already been playing out across the nation: censorship serves white Christian nationalism, colonialism, and patriarchy — in other words, a nation in which some people have more protections and rights (and representation) and others don’t.

Perhaps the “danger” of books by and about anyone harmed by these systems is that children might recognize injustice for what it is. Kids get injustice. This isn’t complicated. Bans are about training children to ignore their best instincts and to not see others or themselves as human, as worthy of respect, dignity, and equal rights.

That’s the sad part of this report.

BUT. Here is the gleaming silver lining. GLEAMING!

The Good News!

A stunning 99.97% of families in Montgomery County opted IN to stories that include queer characters! In a district of almost 160,000 students, only 43 families (in 58 requests) gave in to censorship!

Imagine a political election with 99.9% of voters agreeing! Even better, a friend shared that a teacher in the district heard from parents wanting to make sure that their children had access to inclusive books!

Yes, those wishing to censor got their way.

Yet this community has made their values clear. In MoCo, nearly every family believes that everyone belongs! That’s a win!!

Which Voices Are Loudest?

Yet this victory is also an urgent reminder that most book bans are coordinated by a tiny, tiny handful of loud, organized, highly-funded people, often people who don’t even live in or have children in a particular community. Banners rely on frightening lies about the books and people groups and experiences they are challenging. (Wow, did we see this dishonesty on display in Mahmoud; even Supreme Court justices made up new plots and imagined adult sexual content in books for tiny children.)

But imagine a world in which those who respect the First Amendment rights of children, those who represent the overwhelming majority of Americans, remain just as loud, organized, and activated!

I’m describing many of you reading this. (Thank you!) While censorship is winning for now in many legislatures and school boards, it doesn’t have to be the final result.

It can’t be.

It won’t be.

If we keep showing up like Montgomery County parents have for inclusion.

***

EveryLibrary Banned Books Week 2025: “Finding Your Voice” with C.S. Wild and K. Locke:

“Book banning is about… holding up these myths that keep prejudice going.

Prejudice depends on you not seeing the humanity of other people.

You have to have stereotypes. You have to have lies [and] fear…

Our stories do… the opposite. They humanize.”

***

Prejudice creates false problems that stop us from solving real problems together:

The very serious function of racism is a distraction.

It keeps you from doing your work.

It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being.
— Toni Morrison, Portland State University, 1975

Here’s a story of love, a story about people of faith doing the opposite of banning books.

***

This year, my picture book Love, Violet became embroiled in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor. Religious parents won the right to opt-out school children from lessons with 2LGBTQIA+ picutre books, including Love, Violet and eight other 2LGBTQIA+ picture books.

The petitioners based their case on religious freedom… and yet supported their arguments with mischaracterizations of our books and ugly stereotypes of 2LGBTQIA+ people. It was demoralizing.

As I’ve shared before, I identify with these religious families. I grew up with the same censorship, stereotypes and fears of people like me repeated in Mahmoud. I wrote Love, Violet to replace these misunderstandings with realistic portrayals of kids like me — because not seeing people like myself as human had caused real harm. Part of my journey involved leaving my first faith tradition. It was clear that I could not be honest about how I was made and be accepted.

This spring, I was discouraged about the censorship and cruelty circulationg through this nation, particularly aimed at minority children, and in this case, through using my own book. And often done in the name of religion.

Then a surprise pinged in my inbox. Not hate mail this time. LOVE mail.

Plymouth Congregation Church. (Brown stone church with Minneapolis skyline and blue skies in the background)

Dear friends from Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis, our home church before my spouse went active duty, were checking to see how I was. That wasn’t all. In response to Mahmoud, and to support our family, they had purchased one hundred copies of Love, Violet to give away at church and in the community, including at Family Tree Clinic. They invited donations and raised over two thousand dollars! I was overwhelmed by LOVE! By people turning faith into action.

The hair on my arms is raised as I type about this outpouring of love from people of faith, believers who use their faith to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.

This kind of faith welcomes everyone. It’s about love.

This kind of faith restores my faith in faith.

Here is my thank-you letter to Plymouth CC, which includes the organizations we donated their gift to, in case you’d like to increase the love.

Dear Plymouth Congregational Church Family,

As we conclude Banned Books Week, I wanted to thank you for your support of our family and of reading liberty. This year, my picture book Love, Violet was named in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which religious parents asked to remove their children from any lesson with LGBTQ+-inclusive picture books. Plymouth not only purchased one hundred copies of Love, Violet to donate, you raised over two thousand dollars as a gift for our family. This encouragement means more than we can say!

We donated your gift to the following nonprofits in your honor:

Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQ+ refugees get to safety.

Thrive Youth Center, which shelters unhoused LGBTQ+ young adults in San Antonio, TX.

The Trevor Project, which provides crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth and essential research.

Lambda Legal, which provides legal support for LGBTQ+ rights and protections.

Madison Reading Project, which will donate 25 copies of Love, Violet to Wisconsin children and educators in need.

We Need Diverse Books, which works to get inclusive books to children by supporting students, educators, diverse creators, and publishing professionals. Part of your gift will support an LGBTQ+ author or illustrator and another portion purchased LGBTQ+ books for trans, nonbinary, and queer youth in communities where acceptance is low. 

We acknowledged Plymouth’s generosity with these gifts and also honored Jack Pearson, our dear departed friend and Plymouth member, who joyfully supported the rainbow community at great personal cost. His love lives on. As does yours.

Your generosity was a great comfort to Tara and me, and to my colleagues involved in Mahmoud during a very stressful time. While Mahmoud has struck a lasting blow to public education, I have happy news. The Maryland county where this case began reported that only 43 families in this district of 160,000 students filed opt-out forms: That means that 99.97% of students opted in. Several parents contacted teachers to make sure their children have access to inclusive books. This is a victory! It is also a reminder that book bans typically come from a tiny handful of loud, well-funded people. The majority of Americans across political lines oppose censorship in schools and libraries. Thank you for being part of the loud resistance! In a time when religion is too often twisted into prejudice and authoritarianism, your grace and love shine bright.

For those of you who don’t know our family, I discovered Plymouth after I came out in the Minneapolis StarTribune in 2007. I’d left a faculty position at an Evangelical college and shocked my family, full of Evangelical clergy. My friend Toni Azad suggested I might feel welcome at Plymouth. And I did! The music, prayers, and messages of justice healed me when I thought I no longer had a religious home.

Soon after, I fell in love with Tara Bauer, who was also coming out late in life, while in seminary to become a military chaplain. We had to hide our joy in public, but Plymouth was a true sanctuary. You were one of our few safe places. (I hope you forgave our 100-watt smiles and sappy handholding in those first days of new love!) Tara went on to become a Lily Resident at Plymouth. You remain her ministry partner while she serves in the military chaplain corps as one of the few out LGBTQ+ chaplains. We look forward to retiring in the Minneapolis area one day. Until then, we miss you every day!

Thank you for your part in our personal story and in our shared story of crafting a more loving, just society together.

I wish you peace and courage for whatever is before you. Keep being light, keep being hope, keep being love in a troubled world.

With deepest gratitude,

Charlotte Sullivan Wild and Chaplain, Major Tara Bauer

***
We also honored Tasslyn Magnusson with these gifts, another dear friend, who has supported with her whole heart the SCOTUS Book Club (the authors and illustrators named in Mahmoud). She performs miracles by tracking bans and supporting children, educators, creators, and those organizing for reading freedom. She partners with PEN America and EveryLibrary.

***

Yes: Rage, fear, and hate spread like wildfire. But so do love, inclusion, and justice! Thank you to everyone who loves and supports their neighbors every day! Especially children.

Love,
Charlotte

***

Background of blue sky and white church steeple. White text: ““Books show that we are connected…. Only in mutual care can we all thrive. LGBTQ+ books like mine don’t encourage children to change their religions, their values or their orientations, but to love their neighbors as themselves.“
C.S. Wild, U.S. News & World Report, April 21, 2025“

VIDEO: “Finding Your Voice…” (30 minutes)

I enjoyed this lively chat with Gigi Howard of Drinks in the Library and my SCOTUS Mahmoud v. Taylor fellow survivor Katherine Locke, hosted by EveryLibrary for #BannedBooksWeek 2025!

In thirty packed minutes, we chatted about our picture books What Are Your Words (illus. by Andy Passchier) and Love, Violet (illus. Charlene Chua). We talked about why we wrote them and our hopes for children.

EveryLibrary has planned a fantastic week of events, which you can still catch or catch up on!

Also check out this great conversation with my pal, Lee Wind and Mahmoud alums Sarah and Ian Hoffman, Chris Case, as well as Jan Zauzmer. This conversation was sponsered by We Are Stronger Than Censorship. (Check them out!)

In these terrifying times and during this Banned Books Week, I hope you’ll be encouraged by all the people speaking out for freedom and for young people’s rights — including young people! (Wow, they inspire me!)

VIDEO: “Finding Your Voice…” (30 minutes)

I so appreciate the work Once Upon a Ban does to highlight challenged books and the importance of reading freedom. They graciously invited me to share about the experience of having a book named in Mahmoud v. Taylor in April. After offering a short response to the Supreme Court’s decision on June 27, 2025, I appreciated their invitation to share a more in-depth response for Once Upon a Ban readers:

“I Joyfully Dissent: Author Charlotte Sullivan Wild on Mahmoud v. Taylor and Where We Go From Here”

🌈 “It’s not easy, but learning to respectfully disagree and live in difference, with mutual care for each other, is the heart of democracy.”

💜 “Justice Alito deems our books ‘coercive’ because of their JOY.
But JOY belongs to EVERYONE.”

🌈 “The Supreme Court majority
isn’t content to choose their
own marriage type & respect
other people’s legal freedoms.

They’ve opted to erase
LGBTQ+ children & families.
LGBTQ+ existence offends them.
LGBTQ+ joy angers them.
My response?

I JOYFULLY DISSENT. ”

💜 “It’s time to pivot from horror to positive action.
Hate is loud,
but love is stronger.
Love is the reason for inclusive education.
Love reminds us that, even on the hardest, angriest days,
we belong to each other.”

Once Upon a Ban blog post.

(Shorter response to the Supreme Court decision, with additional links.)

Mahmoud v. Taylor now allows parents to opt their children out of any books or lessons they object to in public schools. Schools are required to provide advance notice of curriculum content to which any religious parents might object.

This landmark decision marks a blow to public education and to the First Amendment rights of children. Parents may now censor their children’s education and access to information about minority people and any topics that don’t align with their views, such as science, religion, or history. It now falls to educators and community members to enthusiastically defend and advocate for children’s rights and for inclusive schools that represent and support all students.

It is worth noting that throughout Mahmoud, laywers and even Supreme Court justices misrepresented the content of the nine 2LGBTQIA+ picture books named in Mahmoud (including my book Love, Violet). They also relied on dehumanizing stereotypes of queer children and families in their arguments. This decision now supports censorship of the very books and information that humanize the people denegrated and discriminated against in this decision and throught our society.

What follows is my initial response to the decision shared on social media. At the end, I’ve included links with more information, resources, and responses to Mahmoud, including for educators.

June 2025: My Response to Mahmoud v. Taylor

💜 Love, Violet was inspired by the joy of my own childhood crushes.

I was an LGBTQ+ child, like countless children. I needed stories like this one.
Readers have shared that finding themselves in this story has delighted and healed them. Children have hugged Love, Violet. Cishet children have asked for it over and over. Children deserve relatable books that include them and those around them at school.

🌟 Religious liberty is essential.
But hiding LGBTQ+ people is not free exercise of religion. It is oppression. School is where children learn how to disagree respectfully and to get along with people unlike themselves. Opt-outs teach children to separate themselves, to fear and reject those they disagree with. Opt-outs stigmatize LGBTQ+ children. I hope parents OPT OUT of opt-outs, so their children learn kindness and are prepared to engage with a diverse world.

🏛 Justice Thomas suggested that schools “cabin” LGBTQ+ representation into separate units to make opt-outs easier. But the Supreme Court already decided: SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL.

Justice Alito wrote for the majority that our books are “coercive” because they show LGBTQ+ JOY. Which is HUMAN JOY. Every child deserves books that honor their FULL HUMANITY. EVERYONE belongs at school. EVERYONE belongs in this world.

🌈 The Supreme Court doesn’t have the last word. WE DO. We can OPT IN to INCLUSION. Inclusive classrooms boost everyone.

LGBTQ+ people and families exist. …[B]ooks that include LGBTQ+ people should not be treated differently… The Court’s decision does not require our schools to abandon these efforts. Parents, students, educators, and neighbors can encourage opportunities for learning about diverse people and families by staying involved with school districts, school boards, and in our local communities. GLAAD

💜 LOVE CAN STILL WIN!
Love, Charlotte

My Other Writing & Speaking on Mahmoud:

Once Upon a Ban, in-depth response to decision, and prior interview
EveryLibrary: “Finding Your Voice” with C.S. Wild and K. Locke, Banned Books Week podcast
SURPRISES & SILVER LININGS, SCBWI Blog post, experience of Mahmoud as an author
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: I was raised Evangelical. Now religious parents object to LOVE, VIOLET at SCOTUS
Why Deny the Innocence of LGBGTQ+ Childhood in U.S. Supreme Court Case?
“All I Want is for Children to Know They Belong”: PEN America Interview

Information about Mahmoud:

Mahmoud v. Taylor decision
Mahmoud v. Taylor Links and Resources

Responses to Mahmoud Decision

Mombian decision summary
GLAAD Response | Fact Sheet
Kelly Jensen, Book Riot! – school/ library perspective
Katherine Lock, HufPost – with action steps

Action Ideas & Support for Educators

* NEA: Best Practices for Supporting Inclusive Education following Mahmoud v. Taylor
* NWLC Toolkit: After Mahmoud v Taylor, Advocating for Inclusive Schools
Unite Against Book Bans
Call to Action Guide (kids & adults)
SCOTUS Book Event Guide | SCOTUS Books Activity Packet

Author and Illustrator Responses

Authors and Illustrators Joint Response
Katherine Locke 
Robin Stevenson | Julie McLaughlin | Blueskye | IG

Additional Responses and Links

PEN America | Elly Brinkley, PEN, Wash Blade
Interfaith Alliance
Authors Against Book Bans
Adventures in Censorship analysis & context
American Booksellers for Free Expression