Georgia's GOP-led Senate passes funding ban on 'Marxist and socialist' American Library Association

The Georgia Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would ban libraries from spending public and private funds on the American Library Association.

An aerial photograph shows the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Right-wing lawmakers in other states have also moved to sever ties with the ALA, in part because of its defense of disputed books, many of which have LGBTQ+ and racial themes. A tweet by ALA President Emily Drabinski in 2022 in which she called herself a "Marxist lesbian" also has drawn criticism.

Georgia Sen. Randy Robertson, another Republican, said the state did not need "a Marxist and socialist organization infecting" its library system.

But state Sen. Elena Parent, a Democrat, said the bill was putting librarians "on the front lines of a culture war." Lawmakers, instead, should be focusing on improving the state's low reading scores, she said.

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The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives for consideration.

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