Rampant censorship. Local, state and federal.

Ugh. Stuff you should be aware of.

There’s a heap of bad stuff out there… the censorship is a piece of it, but it’s all tied together. Here’s some of what’s happening that you should be aware of.

Rockingham County Status :

No change. 26 books still banned by one person’s complaint LAST January 2024. Sara Horst and Matt Cross both publicly celebrated the decision by VHSL to bow to Trump administration executive order banning transgender people from playing sports. This executive order was supported by the Youngkin/Sears/Miyares administration.

VA legislature update :

All of the bad bills Republicans proposed supporting additional censorship have failed. HJ440/SJ251 Public school libraries; removal of certain books, report have both crossed over and are in committees. This law would require a report on books removed from Virginia school libraries to be published before the gubernatorial election next fall. It wouldn’t hurt to call your delegate or state senator. Of course … if it passes, Youngkin could still veto it. But it’s just a report - what could he possibly object to? Don’t let him get away with saying bookbanning is a hoax.

Study; JLARC; public school libraries; removal of certain books; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study the removal of books from public school libraries in the Commonwealthafter July 1, 2020, on the basis of such books containing sexually explicit content or other content deemed objectionable for the purpose of identifying each book removed and, for each book removed, (i) the purported reason for its removal, (ii) the processes and procedures by which each book was identified as containing content necessitating its removal and for removing each book, and (iii) whether applicable state law directing the Department of Education to adopt model policies and each school board to adopt policies consistent with such model policies was used by any school division to justify the identification, removal, or process and procedures by which each book was identified or removed. The bill requires JLARC to complete its meetings by August 1, 2025, and directs the chairman to submit an executive summary of its findings and recommendations by October 1, 2025.

Department of Defense library censorship

The Pentagon first blocked all access to libraries for a week while it conducted a review to ensure that no books violated the Trump administration’s executive order that targeted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion* and gender equality. They have removed a number of books “potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics.” This affects 67,000 children in 7 states and 11 countries. The Pentagon had earlier banned a number of teaching resources, such as a chapter on “sexuality and gender” used in advanced psychology courses for high schoolers, an elementary school publication titled How Does Immigration Affect the US?, and a novel about a trans child, Becoming Nicole. I think we can assume this is what they would like to have happen in all United States schools, but these are currently under local and state control, not the federal government. From The Guardian : Pentagon schools suspend library books for ‘compliance review’ under Trump orders

Firing of the National Archivist:

You may remember that the National Archives annoyed Trump by insisting he return the top secret documents he took with him to Mar-a-Lago. That resulted in criminal charges against Trump, but with the help of a judge he appointed, he got the case dismissed. The attack on the Archives I believe is part of a larger piece of the big picture. The National Archives isn’t just the keeper of the stuff, although that is an essential role because of how history is preserved — or altered is important. We see a trend toward erasure by the Trump administration already. However, the National Archives also has key roles in the Electoral College process, Federal regulations, certification of Constitutional amendments, and is the ombudsdman for the FOIA process. This is intended to be an position that has no political affiliation, just professional qualifications. No Archivist has ever been fired before. For a full description of the role of the Archives, this article from EveryLibrary gives a great and succinct overview. We Should All Be Paying Attention To What's Happening to the National Archives.

Erasure of transgender people by National Park Service:

On the Stonewall Monument website commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots that are a pivotal moment in the fight for rights for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer + people, the word transgender has been erased. Like they don’t exist. Like they were not leaders before, during and after the Stonewall uprising. It’s a sloppy search and replace effort … LGBTQ+ is replaced with LGB, the word transgender is removed without fixing grammar around the removal. Signs point to it not being the National Park Service who did this, but someone else with high level access to government website. It’s part of the broad attack on transgender people. US Park Service erases the word ‘transgender’ from website commemorating Stonewall riot

Compromised websites:

All across the government websites, information has been removed or altered. Some have been court ordered to be restored, but with spotty compliance AP: Federal health agencies restore webpages and datasets following judge’s order and some with snarky disclaimers. Trump Admin Adds Note Rejecting ‘Gender Ideology’ on Sites Court Ordered Them to Restore. Meanwhile, avian flu is ramping up across the country, and the disruption to public health funding and communication is hampering efforts to contain this. Trump's drive to reshape government threatens bird flu response

Efforts to save information:

Across the country, good people are racing to download information before it disappears. The librarians at University of Virginia have created a resource, Government Information Data Rescue where the information that has been rescued in trusted sources is archived. Other libraries and organizations across the country are doing the same.

Quite honestly, there’s more… we have Elon Musk’s techboys rampaging through government websites, and our personal information. They’ve shared classified national intelligence information Elon Musk’s DOGE Shares Classified U.S. Intel With Entire World and have access to all of our personal information. You need to download your social security information, and I’ve seen recommendations to change your main bank account from the one you’ve used for IRS and other government transactions.

I’ve hit my limit here for today and I will take my own advice and take care of myself. I’m going to take a nice walk, meet with a friend, and play some music. Tomorrow, I’ll make more calls and go to a protest. I encourage you to do the same.

Sunrises aren’t guaranteed. I treasure every one I catch.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion* — don’t buy into the acronym. Use the full term to remind people what the Trump administration is attacking.