Alabama’s book censorship doesn’t stop at the children’s section. Now, authors are suing

Three queer writers sued Alabama’s state library board over restrictions that threaten libraries’ state funding if they acquire books marketed to minors that feature transgender characters even for their adult sections.

Phoenix McDonald, Page Powars and Kit Rosewater filed a federal lawsuit on October 30 alongside Read Freely Alabama against the executive board of the Alabama Public Library Service and its members.

The complaint says the state board, whose members are appointed by Alabama’s governor, broke from its historically apolitical role by using state funding to restrict libraries’ collections.

Related: Alabama’s new library rules target every book about transgender people

“Defendants specifically targeted depictions of people who are transgender, and further restricted access to constitutionally protected materials for library patrons under the age of 18,” the lawsuit reads.

The plaintiffs argue the restrictions violate the First and 14th amendments. They seek a court order blocking enforcement, a declaration that the challenged provision is unconstitutional, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Powars, author of the New York Times bestseller But I Hate Him, noted on social media that the policy has effectively made it impossible for libraries to purchase that book even if it were shelved in an adult section.

“Any books featuring trans teenagers that were moved into adult sections were just the ones they’d acquired before this ban took effect,” Powars wrote on Instagram. “Any future requests for a book with a transgender teen in any capacity, even a side character, must now be denied. If you’re one of my readers in Alabama, don’t succumb to whole ass adults being weirdly obsessed with this stuff. Voice yourself where and when you can.”

According to the lawsuit, local library boards traditionally set collection policies, which library staff carried out. Over the past three years, however, the state board has used its control over funding to pressure libraries to exclude books based on their content.

Related: Alabama state libraries may ban books that 'positively depicts' transgender subjects

In January 2024, the board sought an opinion from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on its authority to regulate library collections. Marshall concluded that the board could not directly dictate which books libraries designate as inappropriate for particular ages, but could attach conditions to state funding. His opinion also cautioned that those conditions could not induce libraries to violate the First Amendment.

The board subsequently adopted restrictions on acquiring materials marketed to minors that it deemed obscene, sexually explicit, or otherwise inappropriate. In November 2025, it expanded the policy to target transgender-related content.

According to the complaint, the Gadsden Public Library declined to acquire all three authors’ books this year because of the state’s rules, including McDonald’s The Hidden Continent, Rosewater’s Buried Feelings, and Powar’s But I Hate Him. The Junior Library Guild named Buried Feelings a Gold Standard Selection.

"I think that having a small group of people decide what is right, not only for their own children but for the children and the families of every family in Alabama, is unconstitutional,” Rosewater told the Alabama Reflector