Alabama’s book censorship doesn’t stop at the children’s section. Now, authors are suing

Three queer writers sued Alabama’s state library board over restrictions that threaten libraries’ state funding if they acquire books marketed to minors that feature transgender characters even for their adult sections.Phoenix McDonald, Page Powars and Kit Rosewater filed a federal lawsuit on October 30 alongside Read Freely Alabama against the executive board of the Alabama Public Library Service and its members.The complaint says the state board, whose members are appointed by Alabama’s governor, broke from its historically apolitical role by using state funding to restrict libraries’ collections.Related: Alabama’s new library rules target every book about transgender people“Defendants specifically targeted depictions of people who are transgender, and further restricted access to constitutionally protected materials for library patrons under the age of 18,” the lawsuit reads.The plaintiffs argue the restrictions violate the First and 14th amendments. They seek a court order blocking enforcement, a declaration that the challenged provision is unconstitutional, and attorneys’ fees and costs.Powars, author of the New York Times bestseller But I Hate Him, noted on social media that the policy has effectively made it impossible for libraries to purchase that book even if it were shelved in an adult section.“Any books featuring trans teenagers that were moved into adult sections were just the ones they’d acquired before this ban took effect,” Powars wrote on Instagram. “Any future requests for a book with a transgender teen in any capacity, even a side character, must now be denied. If you’re one of my readers in Alabama, don’t succumb to whole ass adults being weirdly obsessed with this stuff. Voice yourself where and when you can.”According to the lawsuit, local library boards traditionally set collection policies, which library staff carried out. Over the past three years, however, the state board has used its control over funding to pr