Idaho book ban goes into effect on Monday

A new book ban goes into effect in Idaho on July 1.

House Bill 710, a key political win for the Idaho Family Policy Center (IFPC), is targeted at books with Black, feminist or LGBTQ+ themes. It allows any person affiliated with a student at a public or private school to sue its library for carrying a book with “obscene materials.”

The policy defines obscene materials as any literature containing nudity or homosexuality.

While the Bible contains each of these concepts in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, it does not seem that Christian and Jewish texts were the intended target of the ban, but rather books written by queer or Black authors.

IFPC voiced its opposition to The Handmaid’s Tale, the popular dystopian novel criticizing fascism and misogyny, on June 7 after it was removed from the Idaho Fine Arts Academy school library.

Governor Brad Little [R] signed the policy in April, saying that the bill would keep children from reading harmful materials.

The Idaho Library Association is against the bill and says it is harmful to young people, librarians and LGBTQ+ people.

Idaho’s education system ranked 47th in a January analysis of state education levels conducted by Scholaroo.