HRC’s 11th Annual National Day of Reading
Honoring All Stories and Embracing Joyful Resistance as Youth, Parents, and Teachers Join HRC’s 11th Annual National Day of Reading
Honoring All Stories and Embracing Joyful Resistance as Youth, Parents, and Teachers Join HRC’s 11th Annual National Day of Reading
As LGBTQ+ youth and their families face escalating hostility and attacks from the current administration, communities and allies will come together to elevate and celebrate queer stories.
Today, EveryLibrary joined the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, in marking the eleventh anniversary of its Welcoming Schools National Day of Reading, a day for thousands of students, educators, parents, caregivers, and allies to join in unity with queer students. From the Department of Education restricting teaching on gender identity, sexual orientation, and race in the classroom to rescinding civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ students and extreme Title IX protections, this administration has emboldened a climate of hate, fueling rhetoric that spills into classrooms, libraries, and is now surfacing in communities across the country. This year’s National Day of Reading is more important than ever, offering the LGBTQ+ community a chance to reclaim their power and amplify the message of inclusion.
“LGBTQ+ youth are growing up in a world where they watch books disappear from shelves and lessons about their lives get pushed aside. Even if they don’t understand every political decision behind it, they feel the impact,” said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. “Moments like the National Day of Reading remind them that their stories matter. Sharing books becomes an act of defiance and when communities show up for one another, we build understanding and acceptance. Standing together, we make it clear that no one is facing this moment alone and queer stories deserve to be told.”
The Welcoming Schools National Day of Reading is sponsored by the HRC Foundation in partnership with EveryLibrary, the national political action committee for libraries; Authors Against Book Bans, a coalition of writers and illustrators fighting censorship; the School Board Integrity Project, which supports honest, inclusive school governance; Lambda Literary, the premier organization advancing LGBTQ+ literature; the American Association of School Librarians, the national voice for school library professionals; Red, Wine and Blue, a network of women working to defeat extremism; Mama Dragons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating LGBTQ+ affirming homes through parent education; and the National Education Association, the nation’s largest professional employee organization; PEN America, a leading defender of free expression.
“We’re seeing an escalation in efforts to roll back LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools, unlike anything we’ve faced before and that’s why the National Day of Reading matters so deeply,” said Cheryl Greene, Vice President of School and Youth Programming at the Human Rights Campaign. “It’s a moment to uplift LGBTQ+ young people who are too often pushed aside, and to celebrate the educators, families, and allies who stand with them and work every day to build classrooms where every student feels seen. Whether in states where book bans continue to threaten access to diverse stories or in communities pushing forward with inclusive progress, this day gives us a chance to share joy and solidarity nationwide. My hope with this day is to remind LGBTQ+ youth that their voices are necessary, their experiences matter, and we refuse to let them be erased.”
About Welcoming Schools:
HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program is the nation’s most comprehensive, bias-based bullying prevention program in the nation to provide LGBTQ+ and gender inclusive professional development training, lesson plans, booklists and resources specifically designed for Pre K - 12 educators and youth-serving professionals.
To learn more, please visit WelcomingSchools.org. To learn more about the National Day of Reading, please visit https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/welcoming-schools-national-day-of-reading.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people, with 3.6 million members and supporters. The HRC Foundation (a 501(c)(3)) works to ensure LGBTQ+ people are safe, seen and supported where it matters most: at school, at work and in every community across the country. From the courtroom to the classroom, from Congress to corporate America, HRC and the HRC Foundation build power through partnerships, storytelling, and action working to create a future rooted in equity, freedom and belonging for all LGBTQ+ people.
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