ACLU fights to restore woke books Trump banned to protect military kids from gender ideology



The American Civil Liberties Union announced Tuesday that it filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense's school system for removing books that reference "race and gender" from its libraries.

President Donald Trump previously signed executive actions banning diversity, equity, and inclusion from the federal government, resulting in the removal of woke gender ideology books from the Department of Defense Education Activity's schools.

'I assume the ACLU will now support school choice for military families, so the federal government won't get to dictate what is or is not in military kids' education.'

A presidential action titled "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling" argued that the American school system has "indoctrinate[d]" students with "radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight."

In February, the DOD distributed a memo to parents of children within the school system explaining that the agency was reevaluating library books "potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics."

The DOD and the Department of Education released a joint statement earlier this month announcing the creation of the Title IX Special Investigations Team, tasked with protecting students "from the pernicious effects of gender ideology in school programs and activities."

The ACLU's lawsuit, filed on behalf of a dozen students, accuses the DODEA of violating students' First Amendment rights by removing the materials.

"Since January, their schools have systemically removed books, altered curricula, and canceled events that the government has accused of promoting 'gender ideology' or 'divisive equity ideology,'" the ACLU claimed. "This has included materials about slavery, Native American history, LGBTQ identities and history, and preventing sexual harassment and abuse, as well as portions of the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology curriculum."

Natalie Tolley, a parent with three children in DODEA schools, stated that Trump's executive orders were "a violation of our children's right to access information that prevents them from learning about their own histories, bodies, and identities."

"I have three daughters, and they, like all children, deserve access to books that both mirror their own life experiences and that act as windows that expose them to greater diversity," she continued. "The administration has now made that verboten in DODEA schools."

Neal McCluskey, the director of the Cato Institute's Center for Education Freedom, reacted to the lawsuit, stating, "I assume the ACLU will now support school choice for military families, so the federal government won't get to dictate what is or is not in military kids' education."

A spokesperson for the DODEA told the Associated Press that the school system does not comment on ongoing litigation.

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Pentagon schools are indoctrinating children with 'radical DEI curriculums': Report



The Pentagon's education wing is indoctrinating children by embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology within its curriculums, according to a new report from Open the Books obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Department of Defense Education Activity schools have repeatedly been criticized for offering a left-leaning classroom curriculum to roughly 70,000 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

'Children are being indoctrinated to a philosophy that places complex racial and gender identities over national pride.'

Last year, the Pentagon moved to disband its DEI department in the wake of controversy stemming from its former DEI chief. However, instead of ridding the school system of diversity and equity policies, it quietly dispersed the department's staff to other divisions.

At the time, a Pentagon spokesperson released a statement reaffirming the department's commitment to DEI efforts.

Open the Books' report, "Schools for Radicals: The Secret Push to Institute Radical DEI Curriculums within the Pentagon's K-12 Public Schools," laid out key takeaways from its investigation into the department. It noted that the Pentagon previously told Congress that it planned to dismantle its DEI division but instead "secretly create[d] a DEI Steering Committee and move[d] DEI professionals into less public roles at the agency."

Additionally, the report accused DoDEA of attempting to circumvent Freedom of Information Act requests.

"Requests are often returned heavily redacted and appeals take months to a year or longer to process," Open the Books explained.

The nonprofit organization found that the DoDEA advocated for "a variety of troubling free resources that push radical ideologies in the classroom."

"DoDEA staffers affirmed using changing academic standards at the agency as a trojan horse to inject more DEI topics into everyday classroom discussions," the report continued. "Both children and staff are subjected to DEI struggle sessions. DoDEA staffers were presented with a book called Coaching for Equity, which rebukes capitalism, 'patriarchy,' traditions like Thanksgiving, and America's existence as a country."

Open the Books CEO Adam Andrzejewski told the DCNF, "These military service members are deployed abroad to defend and embody American ideals on the world stage."

"Yet their children are being indoctrinated to a philosophy that places complex racial and gender identities over national pride. In fact, pushing students toward activism and teaching them that their relative privilege dictates their life experience can actually alienate them from the American dream," he said.

The Open the Books report noted that some classroom materials were collected from far-left-leaning organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"Parents and taxpayers deserve to know what materials are being used in this and other contexts, but unfortunately, much of it comes from private vendors not beholden to the Freedom of Information Act," Andrzejewski added.

The DOD did not respond to the DCNF's request for comment.

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