- Over 100 people attended a read-in at Utah Capitol to protest additional sensitive materials legislation.
- The ACLU of Utah last month filed a lawsuit claiming HB29 violates the First Amendment.
- HB29's sponsor, Rep. Ken Ivory, maintains his argument that the law protects children from explicit and pornographic content in libraries.
SALT LAKE CITY — Over 100 people packed the Utah Capitol rotunda Friday for a read-in hosted by Let Utah Read and the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to advocate for the freedom to choose what to read and push back against Utah's law regarding "sensitive material" in school libraries.
Aaron Welcher, communications director for the ACLU of Utah, said the read-in — which is in its fourth year — was formed for people to come together and read as "a form of protest."
This year's event carries extra significance, he said, given that it was held a month after the ACLU of Utah filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, protesting the state's "sensitive material" in school libraries law.
The law, HB29, amended in 2024 and sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, has a stated purpose "to identify and remove pornographic or indecent material" from school libraries to "protect children from the harmful effects."
The ACLU filed the complaint with two law firms, alongside authors Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins, and Amy Reed, the estate of Kurt Vonnegut, and two anonymous high school students.
Welcher told KSL on Friday that the estate of Maya Angelou also recently joined the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs argue that HB29 is in opposition to the First Amendment because it allows local school agencies "to strip their school libraries of any book that contains even a single description or depiction of sex, no matter how fleeting, no matter its context, and no matter its literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."
Welcher pointed specifically to two pieces of legislation introduced during this year's legislative session — HB197 and HB517 — that the ACLU of Utah is keeping its eyes on.
"These are just continued efforts to censor materials and the stories that our kids are exposed to. Last year, it was a little more quiet on this front, but this year, especially in the face of our Vonnegut v. Utah lawsuit, it seems to be a hyper focus, yet again, by the Legislature," Welcher said.
HB197, sponsored by Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, requires local education agencies to have a policy in place for how instructional material is added to respective collections.
Discussing HB197 in Thursday's House Education Committee meeting, Rep. R. Neil Walter, R-St. George, said while he's "100% supportive of our efforts to protect children," he thinks local education agencies should be given a chance to "catch up."
"For four years, we've been discussing sensitive materials in this committee. We've had a lot of, frankly, very challenging conversations," Walter said. "I'm not opposed to the bill and what we're trying to do here, but I am going to be a no, just because I would like for our LEAs (local education agencies) to have a chance to catch up."
HB517, also sponsored by Ivory, seems to be focused on the legal aspect of book challenges, removals, and potential lawsuits brought against the state over the removal of a book from school libraries.
Specifically, the bill "implements provisions related to an individual seeking relief from a court related to sensitive materials," meaning that, if passed, states will be able to sue over sensitive material violations. The bill also looks to add other legal protections that would protect Utah if it is sued over the banning of a book.
Welcher said the ACLU of Utah believes HB517 is "definitely a response to our lawsuit" over HB29.
But when the lawsuit was first announced, Ivory said the ACLU needed to "take a deep breath."
"The legislation simply creates a transparent process for reviewing whether government institutions expose children to explicit sexual content, just as responsible communities have always curated age-appropriate content for children," he told the Deseret News. "The ACLU misguidedly asserts that simply because an author wrote a book, that author has some 'right' to expose it to children in K-12 public schools in Utah no matter how indecent or age-inappropriate it may be."
But at Friday's read-in, the prevailing theme among attendees and speakers was that HB29 and other pieces of legislation like it are intended to censor different viewpoints.
"We keep saying that the stories that are being erased and banned are predominantly by authors of people who are of color, who are women (and) LGBTQ+," Welcher said. "What we are seeing in the banned book materials is a lot of bias."
The current list of books removed from Utah schools can be found on the State School Board's website.
