Librarians at Department of Defense-run schools, which educate 67,000 children of American military members, have been instructed to remove books that reference “gender ideology” or “discriminatory equity ideology topics.”

Among the titles flagged for review is Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by Vice President JD Vance, a controversial book widely criticized by Appalachian scholars and writers.

“The recent removal of books from DoDEA schools, especially those addressing topics like gender identity and equity, is nothing but censorship,” West Virginian transgender activist Ash Lazarus Orr told Truthout. “This doesn’t just limit what students can read — it actively suppresses voices and stories that challenge white-washed dominant narratives, particularly those from marginalized communities.”

A February 6 memo to administrators, librarians, and teachers, signed by then-acting chief academic officer Lori Pickel of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), outlines broad criteria for book removals but does not provide a specific list of banned titles. As a result, officials are enforcing the policy without clear guidance on which books to pull, Task & Purpose reports.

“[B]ook banning is fundamentally un-American,” Beck Banks, an assistant professor of communications at Warren Wilson College, told Truthout. “As an act, it opposes education, intellectual curiosity, and democracy, and that’s just the start of its issue.”

Initially, librarians were given until February 18 to complete the book review, but the deadline was later extended to March 3.

“By pulling books without clear guidelines, government officials create an environment where anything deemed controversial or uncomfortable can be erased from the curriculum,” Orr said. “Banning books with vague, swapping policies isn’t about protecting students, it’s about controlling what they can learn and whose voices they get to hear.”

In addition to Vance’s book, other removals include An........

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