Suprises and Silver Linings: When LGBTQ+ Picture Books Go to the Supreme Court

 

(c) Julie McLaughlin, illustrator of Pride Puppy! The nine picture books in Mahmoud v. Taylor

I'd grown up without LGBTQ+ books, without being able to be out. So, when I wrote my LGBTQ+ picture book Love, Violet (Chua, FSG) to fill that gap, I expected it to be censored. 

At first, it was quietly banned (or never purchased) here and there. It was hidden from children in "social sections." I'd only taken a little heat personally. My colleagues who created books about LGBTQ+ boys, transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, or intersex characters - or about race, culture, and religion - have received far more harassment. Then...

(Notice Love, Violet on the top shelf in the back.)

...the U.S. Supreme Court announced that they would hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, which names Love, Violet and eight other LGBTQ+ picture books.

That I was not expecting. It was the first of many surprises.

Mahmoud v. Taylor asks whether schools must grant religious parents advance notice and the option to remove children from classes when LGBTQ+-inclusive books are included. (GLAAD fact sheet & video summary.)

On April 22, I sat glued to a group text chat with the other authors and illustrators involved in Mahmoud v. Taylor as the Supreme Court debated this case - and our books.

We were awed that Justice Sotomayor had clearly read our books. Justices Alito and Gorsuch, however, invented new plots and salacious details about several books, respectively. Mischaracterizations of our books had already been included in the case files and repeated throughout the media - often spurring hate messages. If Supreme Court justices couldn't read our books honestly, how would they empathize with LGBTQ+ children and families? How well could they consider what their decision will mean to them?

It was a stressful, unbelievable day. It has been a stressful, unbelievable season... full of surprises.

• The Toll: I never expected this case to take such a big emotional and physical toll. I'd watched others go through public controversies and thought about their book sales. But this... is intense. I'm glad I chose to speak out and engage with this case, but it is about all I've had time for for the past six monts. Early on, I admit I became especially discouraged becasue as the hate messages got going, some LGBTQ+ authors and I received manuscript rejections that indicated the issue was that our characters were LGBTQ+ and intersectional. I did rally. I'd been through this with Love, Violet. But it was a reminder that book bans mean we have to work even harder to support inclusive books.
  
  

• Congratulations? I was startled when several people contragulated me on this case. I've dedicated my career to children and this case could hurt children the most. Any benefit I experience is outweighed by the fact that the very children who might need these books may have them hidden away. Worse, many children are witnessing these bitter, frightening accusations about LGBTQ+ people and books - maybe about themselves.

• And Speaking of Children? Most of the debate about this case, including the Supreme Court's oral arguments, has ignored the LGBTQ+ children and family members in these classrooms. The case arguments repeated the false idea that children aren't ready to understand gender. But as Katherine Locke points out, children are already experiencing and noticing gender by age two. Orientation is there from the beginning, too. (I had my first innocent crush in pre-K.) Some babies are born intersex. Understanding LGBTQ+ identities doesn't require adult knowledge. In fact, our books are the perfect age-appropriate way to help children understand the many ways people are born. For a case supposedly centered on education, there was shockingly little consideration of real children and their lives.
  
  

• Lies and Hate: To have our books lied about, to witness those lies repeated and twisted beyond recognition, has been angering and exasperating. Most of us have received hate messages or prejudice-based book reviews, but one author has been utterly deluged. She even received death threats. The hate is worst after coverage by a popular conservative news source that repeats the mischaracterizations about her book. Her sweet book was inspired by her family. But worst of all, smearing books smears the people represented in them. That's the point. Children get that message. Also: nothing reminded me more of why I wrote Love, Violet than hate messages. Children deserve books full of love!
  
  

• Bearing Witness: I never expected to have an opportunity like this to talk about why we make these books. Beyond interviews and blog posts, I also shared my experiences of growing up queer and the daughter of an Evangelical pastor  in an op-ed for U.S. News and World Report (video intro). Honestly, dredging up those experiences rubbed salt into old wounds. That piece felt impossible to distill into 750 words, both emotionally and technically. But it felt too important not to try. Religious liberty means including everyone - not excluding, erasing, and oppressing those some people disagree with. 

• Humility: I learned you can give a half-hour phone interview and journalists will choose one earnest, non-gramatical sentence for their article. Also, listening to my creative colleagues involved in this case has been been inspiring! I've learned so much!
  
  

• We Are Intersectional: Like coming out and becoming disabled did, this experience reminded me how prejudice is intersectional. Feedom is also intersectional, as the authors of IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All expressed powerfully. Mahmoud v. Taylor is about children's access to books about every mariginalized group. This case isn't about religious people v. LGBTQ+ people. Freedom of speech supports freedom of religion. And children's rights to learn are human rights!

• Surprising Silver Linings: My biggest surprise has been that all this trouble, this rainbow panic, this wave of hate speech, has also inspired so much love!

I've been overwhelmed by the support from so many organizations (PEN America, GLAAD, AABB and more). FReadom champion and picker-upper of weary spirits Tasslyn Magnusson has been with us at every step - and with Super Mom Energy (XO!). Queer elders have reached out with encouragement (XO, Lesléa Newman!). That wasn't all.

A Minnepaolis church where my spouse served purchased one hundred LGBTQ+ picture books to give away and gathered donations for LGBTQ+ causes. Supporters of inclusive education rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court building on April 22. Student activists, who founded their own student rights group after book bans hit their community, joined them as Kind Cotton gave away challenged books. A friend just shared that she was inspired by this case to run for city council. The good keeps coming!

But the most beautiful surprise for me personally has been how Tasslyn and the SCOTUS authors and illustrators spontaneously formed the SCOTUS Book Club. This community has been the biggest silver lining! I'm not sure how I would have surived this season without these new friends! Andy Passchier, illustrator of What Are Your Words?, shared this comic about what getting messages from our group feels like.

(c) Andy Passchier 2025

Several other authors also shared what this experience has been like...

Ian & Sarah Hoffman, authors of Jacob’s Room to Choose

We attended the rally outside the courtroom while Mahmoud v Taylor was being argued. As disheartening it was to hear Supreme Court justices lie about the contents of children’s books, we were uplifted by the joy of the crowd assembled to support the right to read. 

If your work is being challenged or banned, it’s because you did something right. Keep doing it! There are kids and families that need you. There are authors and organizations that will support you. 

 

Here’s the Hoffmans’ essay in Time Magazine about how their son inspired their book.

 

Even these two authors, whose books were the most maligned in the oral arguments, pointed out this surprising joy:

Sarah S. Brannen, author of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding

It still seems surreal that my first book, published 17 years ago, could have ended up embroiled in something so huge. But getting to know the other authors and illustrators of the books in the case, having their support, sharing in their support of one another, has made up for all of the emotional stress and exhaustion.    

  

(Here’s Sarah’s op-ed in the The Boston Globe.)

And Robin has received the most hate mail and harassment of us all. Yet this is what she shared:

Robin Stevenson, author of Pride Puppy!

Being part of an incredible group of authors and illustrators made a tremendous difference. I have been so grateful for all the conversations, the hard work, the cheerleading and hand-holding, and for the times we made each other laugh on the worst days. We also had wonderful support from Tasslyn Magnusson and PEN America, AABB, GLAAD and others- I would encourage anyone going through something like this to reach out and ask for the help you need. 

 

(Read Robin’s essay for Maclean’s about having her book horribly misrepresented.)

Times like these can tear our souls and communities apart. It's easy to drown in despair. But adversity can also remind us that we need each other. And of the importance of our smallest action. It also reminds us of the value of laughter - that sign that we are yet alive and unconquered. For all the evil and harm around, silver gleams everywhere. We can choose connection. We can choose love.

Friends, I’m still exhausted. I’m bewildered and bracing for a Supreme Court decision that may come today. I'm breaking down on the regular. I really, really need a month-long nap. But! These silver linings fill me with hope. This injustice here and around the world isn't the end. Just as the horrors of past eras were not the end either. 

Our love and connections, our vision and hope, are what will power us to keep going, to keep making good trouble, as John Lewis would have us do - one act, one joy, one connection, one story at a time. 

In peace and hope, 

Charlotte

--> Want to help? Here's a Call to Action Guide for kids and adults. Here is our SCOTUS Book Activities Packet and a Book Event Guide. Thank you for reading and being a part of this community of hope!

--> In case you missed them, here are my other posts in June. Happy Pride!
“Pointless Joy! Returning to the Heart in our Art”
“My Process, My Nightmare!”
"PRIDE INTERVIEW with Picture Book Author Joëlle Retener"


P.S. 
(ADDED JUNE 27) Hi friends, the Supreme Court decision was announced today, June 27. The court upheld the parents' injunction, so the case now returns to lower courts. Meanwhile, the school district must provide advance notice and opt-outs for the five remaining LGBTQ+ picture books in the curriculum. Justice Sotomayor's dissent is especially powerful in laying out the broad implications for freedom of speech and for public schools.

Here are several statements:

PEN America Statement after Mahmoud v. Taylor Decision
Statement from Authors and Illustrators
SCOTUS Decision

It's discouraging - especially when, writing for the majority, Justice Alito deemed our books a religious burden and coercive because they portray LGBTQ+ characters experiencing joy. Which leads me back to my first post of the month. Maybe joy isn't ever "pointless." It's how we survive and thrive. Love to you friends. Never give up!

Charlotte Sullivan Wild is the author of several picture books. Love, Violet (illus. by Charlene Chua) is a Stonewall Book Award winner, Charlotte Huck Honor Book, and Lambda Literary Award Finalist. The Amazing Idea of You (illus. by Mary Lundquist) is a lyrical celebration of the potential in living things, especially in every child. She has taught language arts, literature and writing, worked as a bookseller, and volunteered as the SCBWI RA for Southwest Texas and as a radio host for Write On! Radio, KFAI. She is represented by Analía Cabello at Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Learn more: www.CharlotteSWild.com