Moms for Liberty requests information from Baltimore County schools on LGBTQ+ books, health classes

Baltimore County school board meetings rarely include challenges to library books or testimony from members of Moms for Liberty. The national conservative activist group, however, has been seeking information on the public school system, according to records received through the Maryland Public Information Act.

Tara Thompson, chair of the Baltimore County chapter, filed 15 public record requests to Baltimore County Public Schools last year on behalf of Moms for Liberty, asking for data on guidance given to LGBTQ+ students, services provided by school health clinics and how health education is taught.

Other records requests by Thompson focus on books that describe sex acts or have LGBTQ+ themes, how often students are checking out those books, decisions made on curriculum review requests, and correspondence between school leaders and racial and civil justice organizations, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled Moms for Liberty a hate group.

Moms for Liberty has nine county chapters in Maryland that follow the national playbook of endorsing school board candidates and campaigning to remove books with LGBTQ+ and racial themes from school libraries.

Some of Thompson’s requests were approved, and others were denied because the records didn’t exist. Federal law protects student records as confidential.

Thompson asked for data such as the names of the people or groups who “requested the integration” of three books in any media center or classroom and how often they were checked out from nine high school libraries. The books — “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, “Push” by Sapphire and “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins — feature LGBTQ+ characters and descriptions of sex.

Thompson, whom a national spokesperson said was unavailable for comment, has appeared at one school board meeting in the past six months. Her comments at that meeting focused on the school system’s failure to teach her three sons with dyslexia to read rather than on book challenges.

“I am not a mom trying to make a stink about these books. I have so many other things to do on my plate,” Thompson told the board while holding up copies of “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, coming-of-age stories with queer characters.

“Why am I here?” Thompson asked. “I’m being a mom, and I’m fighting for my children and all of the children in BCPS because I don’t want to see one more child be failed by this school system.”

Thompson added that parents are responsible for ensuring schools do justice to students by teaching them to read. She criticized the length of time it takes for BCPS to review challenged books and urged the system to remove books like “Gender Queer” from schools.

Gboyinde Onijala, a spokesperson for BCPS, declined to comment.

Other parent activists, from Republican Women of Baltimore County, pushed BCPS last year to remove “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy.” The books were two of five that were challenged between 2022 and 2023. Challenged books go through a formal review process before a decision is made to retain or remove them. The challenges have been resolved without any books removed.

Republican Del. Nino Mangione, of Baltimore County, who signed a pledge to Moms for Liberty in 2022, introduced a bill this session prohibiting sexually explicit material in public school libraries or media centers. The bill died in committee.

Carroll County’s Moms for Liberty chapter successfully lobbied for the removal of some school library books they consider inappropriate for children. The national organization also celebrated on its website a Carroll County school board vote in January that restricted “sexually explicit” material or material that describes sex acts in a detailed or graphic manner.

Kit Hart, chair of Carroll County’s chapter, said every chapter has different needs and that although she’s not familiar with the Baltimore County chapter’s efforts, neighboring Harford, Howard and Anne Arundel counties have gained ground with local school boards since the national organization started in 2021.

There are more than 100,000 Moms for Liberty members in the United States, the organization says, but Hart said she didn’t know the number of Baltimore County chapter members. A national spokesperson did not respond last week to a question on membership.

Hart said public information requests are “very helpful” tools to collect information and spur changes but that the national organization doesn’t require chapters to file them.

“Whenever parents feel like they need to be a part of the decision-making, we’ll get involved,” Hart said. “We’re constantly regenerating our priorities.”

Aside from book challenges, Moms for Liberty is focused on changing the state’s health education standards to allow local school boards to determine what’s taught in health classes.

In Carroll County, Hart said parents have three choices for their kids: enroll in the state’s regular health education, opt their children out of lessons on family life that include information on gender identity and sexual orientation, or enroll in a health class with a curriculum designed by a committee of parents.

Health lessons must represent all students regardless of ability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, according to state standards. School districts also must have policies for parents to opt their children out of family life and human sexuality instruction in all grades, except for HIV and AIDS prevention.

Maryland chapters of Moms for Liberty described the topics of gender identity and sexual practice in health class as “corrosive” and “extremely sensitive and possibly harmful” when opposing a 2023 bill to create an age-appropriate health education framework. The bill failed.

In Baltimore County, records requests included information on services students can receive at in-school health clinics, specifically if students under age 18 can seek birth control or mental health counseling. Thompson also inquired about the school system’s $1.8 million contract with Talkspace, a virtual therapy platform that’s free for students seeking mental health treatment.

In August, Thompson asked for “all information and resources” given to school administrators, teachers and counselors related to “supporting a student in the LGBTQ+ community,” particularly a child who changed their pronouns and used a bathroom that corresponds with the gender they identify with.

“This would include all guidance, information and resources to include all areas: restrooms, locker rooms, physical education, athletics, single-sex classes, extracurricular activities and for overnight field trips,” Thompson wrote.

BCPS responded to the request but didn’t send records.

Cait Smith, director of LGBTQ+ policy at Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based liberal think tank, said groups that frame LGBTQ+ literary or health content as inappropriate or obscene send the message to young members of that community that they don’t belong in schools. And transgender and nonbinary students deserve access to health information that is relevant to them, Smith added.

“Hostile school policy directly leads to harm,” Smith said.

Democratic lawmakers are trying this session to make Maryland one of few states that limits book-banning efforts. The Freedom to Read Act would set a statewide standard for library content instead of each county school board deciding what material to prohibit. Books with sexual content could still be challenged and removed under the bill.

Nicole Neily, president of another national parental rights organization called Parents Defending Education, filed two public information requests with BCPS in 2023. One of them requested emails from school employees and 20 physicians and clinicians, most of whom are affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine and provide gender-affirming surgery and medical care.