Booksology What is HR 2616, the “Stop Indoctrination and Protect Children Act”? This bill is different from HR 7661, the national book ban bill introduced by Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller (a Hitler fan). The two bills are closely aligned, especially since Republicans expanded HR 2616 in light of several other anti-LGBTQ+, particularly anti-trans education bills.
In the name of protecting “parental rights”…which one Of course, the issue is the rights of parents. HR 2616 would require schools receiving federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to obtain parental permission before using a student’s preferred gender, pronouns, or name on school forms or allowing students to use the bathroom or locker room that best fits their identity. The bill also prohibits the teaching of “gender ideology,” as defined by President Trump’s Executive Order 14168, in public schools receiving federal funding. The fact that children are the targets is particularly concerning in today’s climate, where presidential orders are not considered law, but conspiracies that are discussed as fact.
This bill would force children to be removed from their parents, no matter how dangerous the situation is for the child. There will also be restrictions on what can and cannot be taught in the classroom, inevitably leading to the complete removal of concepts from the curriculum and the removal of large numbers of books from classrooms and libraries. Transgender people and trans history will be banned. As we’ve been saying since the beginning of the race to ban books in 2021, none of this is about the books themselves. It was about the imaginary cishet, the eradication of people who did not fit the white Christian ideal. Bullying transgender kids makes grown adults feel good, even if it doesn’t offer any solutions to the real problems of modern America.
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For a party that does not believe in small government, there is a strong obsession with the identity of individuals across the country, especially those of children. This is one of many bills pursued by the right that devote time to the issue of transgender children, continuing in the name of “defending women” as well as “parental rights.” We know that “parental rights” means the rights of people who align with Republican ideology. I know that “protecting women” only means some women. Both are boogeymen attacking Americans’ rights as individuals. In the case of HR 2616, the lives of children are once again valued less than others in this country. The bill further codifies children as the property of their parents, rather than as autonomous individuals.
As noted above, eight Democratic senators voted in favor of the “Don’t Say Trans” bill. They are Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (North Carolina), Cleo Fields (Los Angeles), Laura Guillen (New York), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio State), Marie Gulsenkamp Perez (Washington State), and Eugene Vindman (Virginia).
HR 2616 is not yet law. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it has an even higher mountain to overcome. Again, this bill is not the same as HR 7661, the national book ban bill. This is a step forward for the bill, and because the language is so vague, HR 2616 would have a similar impact on what young people have access to in public schools.
Now is the time to call your senators and tell them you oppose this unnecessary and cruel bill designed to bully children and cause a massive chilling and censorship movement in public schools. As a direct result of this bill, young people will die and be indoctrinated into an education that erases entire historical groups and movements. At a time when the federal government is clamoring for a “hands-off” approach to education in the country — the argument behind shutting down the Department of Education, since education is a “state” concern — such a bill would be a colossal overreach. Similarly, the amount of time elected officials spend thinking and talking about what is and isn’t under children’s clothing, and whether it suits their looks and tastes. not normal. These legislators are not spending even a fraction of their energy pursuing justice for the victims of pedophilia perpetrated by some of their colleagues in government. They have instead worked to protect those whose brutal crimes against children are listed in Epstein’s file.
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But don’t just contact your senator before introducing a bill. Also contact your members of Congress and let them know that you are watching what they are doing. Sending a positive message to those who voted against this. Just as it is essential to express anger or disappointment, it is important to demonstrate approval of legislative decisions. If your representative is one of the eight Democrats who voted in favor of bullying transgender children, let us remind you that their seat is always at stake. Let us remind them that they are also complicit in the harm that will result from the implementation of such legislation.
It is impossible to know when or where this bill will be introduced in the Senate. HR 2616 sat for more than a year until members of the House of Representatives decided it was important to attack public school children now. You can monitor when and where the Senate takes up a bill by monitoring the bill tracking page (which is not updated regularly). The schedule of Senate hearings and meetings is also helpful.
While lobbying your representatives in the House and Senate, please also take the time to advocate for continued funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in fiscal year 2027. We can use some of the same talking points from last year’s successful fight to preserve the only federal agency dedicated to public libraries and museums. Are there any new topics you can incorporate? Two lawsuits filed against the government’s abolition of government agencies in March 2025 were successful. The lawsuits filed by 21 state attorneys general and the American Library Association and AFSCME were both ruled in favor of IMLS and settled.
