Supreme Court Considers KidLit With LGBTQ+ Themes

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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

If you heard a deep sigh in the distance, that was me. My kingdom for a world where acknowledging the diversity of identities that exists all around us is not controversial; where kids reading about a puppy that gets lost at a Pride festival or a trans kid who wins a karate competition isn’t met with righteous indignation and gnashing of teeth. An association of parents and teachers under the moniker Kids First (the naming conventions of these groups is something else, but I digress) is suing Maryland’s largest school system to allow them to opt students out of classes on days where books with queer characters and themes are being discussed. They’re arguing that the books violate their right to free exercise of religion under the First Amendment. One member of Kids First decided she needed to help found a private school that wouldn’t “brainwash kids with these ideas.” This person apparently doesn’t know what brainwashing is because incorporating books about LGBTQ+ people into a broader curriculum ain’t it. People are watching this case and have real concerns about the implications of a vote in favor of Kids First. “Some legal scholars said that accepting the logic of the Maryland parents’ arguments would have broad consequences for the ability of public schools to manage their curriculums, citing cases in which parents unsuccessfully challenged course materials on evolution and the Big Bang theory and storybooks about wizards and giants,” Adam Liptak writes in the New York Times piece (this takes me back to season 4, episode 16 of Abbott Elementary, BUT I DIGRESS).

Heartstopper Says Goodbye With a Movie

The beloved and critically acclaimed series based on the YA graphic novels by Alice Oseman will come to an end with a Netflix movie. The film, based on Oseman’s upcoming volume six, will pick up where season 3 left off, with Nick and Charlie’s love still in bloom but burdened by “the reality of a long-distance relationship.” We have no release date yet as filming begins this summer.

Another Chapter of Ick From the Neil Gaiman Allegations

I try to space out ugly stories where I can in this newsletter but I couldn’t sit on this one any longer. Neil Gaiman is seeking half a million dollars from Caroline Wallner, one of the people who accused him of sexual misconduct. If you made it through the Vulture piece detailing the numbered allegations, you’ll remember her gut-wrenching account where, according to Wallner who was left to support her three children after divorce, she was pressured to have sex with Gaiman in exchange for being able to stay on his property where she and her partner had been living. Well, Vulture now reports that Gaiman is filing a demand for arbitration for breach of the nondisclosure agreement Wallner signed in exchange for $275,000. Wallner’s lawyer was surprised Gaiman would go after his client because of the optics. I was stunned by the lack of self-awareness I read in his blog post responding to the allegations in the original Vulture story, so this feels in character. Arbitration might land in Gaiman’s favor because of current NDA laws, but who’ll mistake him for a winner?

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