Three authors and Read Freely Alabama sued the Alabama Public Library Service’s executive board and its members on Friday, Oct. 30, over a state funding rule restricting transgender-related books in children’s and teen sections. Kit Rosewater, Page Powars and Phoenix McDonald filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, and Democracy Forward is representing them, the Alabama Political Reporter reported.
The amended rule took effect Feb. 14, 2026. It labels “any materials regarding transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders” as “inappropriate for children and youth.” Libraries seeking state aid can’t acquire covered titles marketed to readers under 18, even for adult collections. Existing copies must be removed or moved to an adult section. The rule makes an exception for age-appropriate materials about religion, history, biology or human anatomy.
The new fiscal year began Oct. 1. Libraries that had not yet adopted compliant policies could still receive full funding by doing so by June 30, 2027, the Political Reporter reported.
The complaint, case No. 2:26-cv-00916, calls the rule unconstitutional on its face under the First Amendment, and vague and overbroad besides. It also cites the Fourteenth Amendment and asks a judge to stop the board from enforcing it. The plaintiffs say Gadsden Public Library declined requests to acquire all three authors’ books because of the rule.
“Instead of helping libraries provide books and services to the people of Alabama, APLS has begun compelling libraries to remove and exclude books from their shelves,” said Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward’s president and CEO, in the group’s announcement of the lawsuit.
Which Books Are in the Alabama Library Lawsuit?
Rosewater, who lives in Albuquerque, wrote Buried Feelings, a queer YA rom-com about two former best friends on a San Francisco treasure hunt. Cam, one of the two leads, is a trans man, according to Penguin Random House. In that announcement, Rosewater said the book was a national Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
“But because the book features a transgender love interest, APLS has censured the title and prevented it from being in circulation,” she said.
Powars, who lives in Brooklyn, wrote But I Hate Him. “But I Hate Him is not a book about being transgender,” he said. He called it “a sweet romance that happens to feature a transgender character whose identity is neither central nor extensively explored.”
“The Hidden Continent is the third book in a trilogy called The Talent Continuum,” McDonald said. “It is a story about friendship, love, and overcoming doubt for a disabled boy.”
Losing the finale hurts the whole trilogy, McDonald said. “Libraries and other institutions will be less likely to carry any of the books without the third copy of the trilogy.”
Alabama’s Transgender Books Rule and a ‘Censor-in-Chief’ Clash
The board voted on Nov. 20, 2025, when Wahl chaired both the library board and the Alabama Republican Party, The Associated Press reported.
At the same meeting, members separately debated restoring funding to Fairhope Public Library. “John, are you becoming the censor-in-chief for Alabama?” board member Ronald A. Snider asked Wahl during that discussion.
“You can call it second-guessing or you can call it accountability,” Wahl said.
The AP counted more than 200 local libraries under the rule. Minors’ standard library cards can’t reach adult collections. An all-access card takes a parent’s written permission.
“What I hope is that other children can approach my daughter with curiosity and compassion,” Mack Reynolds, a transgender parent, said, according to the AP.
Read Freely Alabama co-founder Angie Hayden saw a ban taking shape. “So long term they are banning these books, slowly removing these books from your public library,” she said.
(Alabama’s got company. Utah pulled Wicked from its public schools in January, and a Tennessee library director sounded the alarm over an LGBTQ book crackdown last December.)
Read Freely Alabama Called for Wahl and Minton to Resign
In September, board member Amy Minton published a list of books she said could show a library was out of compliance, the Political Reporter reported. Read Freely Alabama renewed its call for Minton and Wahl to resign. Its leaders said every title Minton named at the Cullman County Public Library System was already in the adult section.
“The library demolished its young adult section last year in order to receive their state funding,” they said.
Now Read Freely is a plaintiff. “The APLS Board’s own subjective judgments about what is appropriate should not determine what materials all Alabamians can access,” Hayden said. “That is not protecting children or parental rights.”
Alabama Public Library Service Chair Says ‘This Is Not Censorship’
Wahl told 1819 News he’s “unapologetic” about protecting kids. “This is not censorship. It is common sense, parental rights, and good government,” he said.
“This lawsuit does not intimidate me, and it will not change my position,” Wahl said. He added, “I was not elected to back down when radical activist groups disagree with me.”
Minton, who’s named in the suit with the rest of the board, told 1819 News the public comment process drew 8,478 comments. She said 6,781 of them backed the change. She referred questions about the lawsuit to the Alabama Attorney General’s office or Wahl.
Wahl is also the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. He faces Democratic state Rep. Phillip Ensler of Montgomery in the Nov. 3, 2026, election, according to the official sample ballot.
