Bills to ban US schools’ discussion of LGBTQ+ issues are threat to free speech – report

Multiple states have introduced bills that would ban books with LGBTQ+ themes or characters or censor what teachers and schools can say about gender identity and sexuality. Photograph: Rogelio V Solis/AP

Republicans in states across America are targeting LGBTQ rights through a wave of “educational gag orders”, a free speech group has warned, as conservatives battle to censor discussion of race and sexual identities in schools.

More than 100 bills censoring teachers have been introduced in state legislatures this year, according to a report by PEN America – a non-profit which works to protect freedom of expression in the US – in what the organization says is a “national assault on our education system”.