Mike Curato’s graphic novel Flamer is staying in Harford County’s school libraries. On Oct. 22, Harford County Circuit Judge Yolanda L. Curtin upheld the Maryland State Board of Education’s order putting the book back on the shelves.
“This court finds that the decision by the state board was not arbitrary, unreasonable or illegal,” Curtin said, The Baltimore Banner reported. She said the local board couldn’t decide on its “collective understanding.” “It’s got to be following what the state law is,” she said.
According to the ACLU of Maryland, it’s the first time a court has ruled on the state’s Freedom to Read Act, WMAR-2 reported. That 2024 law says school libraries can’t pull books over “partisan, ideological or religious disapproval.”
How “Flamer” Got Pulled From Harford County Libraries
Curato draws on his own experience of anti-gay bullying in Flamer. Its Filipino American protagonist spends a summer at Scout camp, struggling with how others treat him and his attraction to another boy.
In November 2024, a parent formally asked to have it removed, arguing it didn’t “meet the values of the community.” A district committee of parents, students and staff reviewed it and voted to keep it in middle and high school libraries. Superintendent Sean Bulson agreed.
Then the school board took it up in a closed session in June 2025 and voted 5-3 to pull it, citing age-appropriateness. It was the first book removed under the district’s new challenge process.
Suzie Scott, who chairs Moms for Liberty’s Harford County chapter, told WJZ at the time that “there’s just no room for sexually explicit and vulgar materials in the school library.”
Curato pushed back at a sold-out event in the county last fall. “A lot of people who ban ‘Flamer’ don’t talk about how the book is about suicidal ideation and prevention,” he said, CBS News Baltimore reported.
Maryland State Board Overrules Harford, and Harford Sues
The local group Together We Will Harford County appealed to the state. In November 2025, the Maryland State Board of Education reversed the ban. It was the first time the state board had stepped into a local book decision.
The Banner reported that the board pursued its court appeal after lawyer Gregory Szoka estimated its chances of success at “less than 20%.”
Leslie Thompson, a Harford parent, fought the board in court with the ACLU of Maryland and the Maryland State Education Association. WMAR-2 quoted her saying, “This victory demonstrates what is possible when communities come together to protect the rights of young people.”
“It was the local board that violated the Freedom to Read Act and the First Amendment,” her lawyer, Erika Jacobsen White, said during the hearing, according to the Banner.
In the same WMAR-2 report, Sonia Kumar, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Maryland, called it “a victory for the freedom to read and for Maryland communities whose voices were heard.”
Carol Bruce had voted against removing the book. In comments reported by the Banner, the board member described the dispute as political and questioned why her colleagues had challenged the state board’s ruling.
Board president Lauren Paige did not respond to the Banner’s request for comment in its Oct. 22 report. That report did not establish whether the board would pursue another appeal.
More from Gayety: LGBTQ+ books coverage.
