Lawsuit says SC library discriminates by removing transgender-related books
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South Carolina Book Bans
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A group of parents in the Upstate have filed a lawsuit against their local library, alleging it systemically discriminates against the LGBTQ community by restricting access to books that include transgender characters or themes.
The Greenville County Library System has adopted a policy of moving any book with gender non-conforming characters or presentations to the adult section of the library, even if the books are targeted at younger readers, the suit filed in a Greenville federal court on Thursday alleges.
“According to Library Board members, these policies do not rest on neutral curation criteria, but on members’ discriminatory view that materials condoning gender transition are ‘trash’ and that the ‘idea’ of ‘transgenderism’ is a ‘dangerous thing’ and part of ‘a radical agenda’ that the library has ‘every right ... to take an ethical and moral stand’ against,” the suit says, quoting from library board discussions of the policy.
The suit claims two board members raised First Amendment concerns at a meeting at which the rules were adopted, but the board majority voted against consulting with an attorney before changing the policy.
Under the policy, the suit alleges Greenville libraries have removed award-winning books such as “Julián Is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love about a young boy who wants to dress up as a mermaid; “Ana on the Edge” by A.J. Sass about a 12-year-old non-binary figure skater; and “Red: A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall about a blue crayon mistakenly labeled “red.”
Meanwhile, the lawsuit claims the book “God Made Boys and Girls” by Marty Machowski, which advocates against gender transition, remains available in the juvenile section. The parents also allege a “widespread custom” at the library of removing LGBTQ-themed books, denying requests to order such materials and canceling LGBTQ events, even for adult members of the community.
The Greenville County Library System didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit is brought by a group of parents on behalf of four minors living in Greenville County, against the county, the library’s executive director and the library’s youth services manager. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.
The suit claims the actions of the library violates federal precedent that prohibits public officials under the First Amendment from removing reading materials that do not comply with their individual viewpoints.
“By discriminatorily suppressing Plaintiffs’ access to these materials on the basis of Defendants’ animus towards gender transition and transgender people, Defendants have violated — and continue to violate — Plaintiffs’ rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, causing ongoing and irreparable harm,” the suit says.
In 2024, a complaint was made by a library patron against “Melissa,” a book about a 10-year-old transgender girl. A review committee found that the book should remain on the library’s shelves, but on appeal a materials committee of the library board voted to move it and all other books dealing with gender identity or transition to the adult section.
One board member is quoted in the lawsuit as saying she would rather “err on the side of our net being too wide and catching some books that maybe shouldn’t have” than “signaling accidentally through our juvenile section that we think this is appropriate for children to learn on their own.”
A later board decision expanded the policy to remove similar books from the teen section, with one board member arguing “it’s not a good idea to encourage transgenderism with regard to 13- to 17-year-olds. And there’s a state law, in fact, in effect, that says basically the same thing.”
The lawsuit says the library policy hinders patrons “who wish to access books portraying gender transition and transgender people in a positive light, free from the government’s viewpoint-based discrimination,” and that the Greenville library policy subjects LGBTQ youth and their parents to unequal treatment.
The parents of one minor represented in the lawsuit said he should “have privacy over the books he chooses to read, without having to ask for his parents to check books out for him using their adult cards, as long as the books are generally targeting his age group.”
It asks that the book removal policies be struck down and the plaintiffs be awarded $1 in nominal damages, but any associated costs and attorneys’ fees.
The lawsuit comes as the status of books in South Carolina’s public school libraries has become a culture war flashpoint. The state board of education has taken action in recent months to remove several books from school shelves because it determined they contained inappropriate sexual content, including some with LGBTQ themes.
The state board is considering 10 more books for removal at its meeting on Tuesday, which the educational nonprofit PEN America estimates would make South Carolina the state with the most banned books in the country.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Lawsuit says SC library discriminates by removing transgender-related books."
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