Navigating a doctrinal grey area: Free speech, the right to read, and schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Every year thousands of people challenge the contents of libraries and school curriculum. The exact number of these complaints is impossible to measure and most are likely verbal in nature and handled informally. Some, however, explode into public view. This article explores two battles in New Jersey over Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. In a dispute that began via email, emerged publicly through several local board of education hearings, spread to a neighboring school, and then traveled to the courts, the Fun Home dispute illustrates the conflict at play in the joints between free speech, parental rights, and public authority.