A federal judge in Virginia has ordered the Pentagon to restore books and curriculum removed from schools serving military families under the Trump administration’s campaign to purge so-called “woke” content from the armed forces and related institutions.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Department of Defense in April on behalf of six military families with 12 children, arguing that officials at Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools violated the students’ First Amendment right to receive information. The suit was filed in response to actions taken shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Those actions included removing books, altering lesson plans, and canceling events accused of promoting “gender ideology” or “divisive equity ideology.” Materials on slavery, Native American history, LGBTQ history, and sexual harassment prevention were among those targeted. Portions of the Advanced Placement Psychology curriculum were also censored — as they were in Florida after passage of that state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law — for including definitions and explanations of LGBTQ identities, according to USA Today.
In addition, some schools shut down student affinity clubs celebrating LGBTQ or racial and ethnic identities, canceled events marking cultural awareness months like Black History Month and Women’s History Month, and removed symbols of inclusion such as rainbow flags and “safe space” stickers from classrooms.
More than 67,000 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade attend DoDEA schools across the United States and in 11 other countries.
On October 20, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, of the Eastern District of Virginia, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Pentagon and DoDEA from enforcing the purge of so-called “woke” books, lesson plans, and teaching materials at five schools attended by the plaintiffs’ children. Unless overturned by a higher court, the order will remain in effect while the lawsuit proceeds.
Tolliver Giles ordered DoDEA officials to “immediately restore the library books and curricular materials that have been removed since January 19, 2025 to their preexisting shelves, classrooms, and units at Plaintiffs’ five schools.”
The judge had earlier ordered that the list of nearly 600 books removed from shelves as part of the anti-“woke” purge be made public. Titles on the list included What’s Diversity? by David Anthony, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Michael Bronshi. Also listed were biographies of Chaz Bono, director Lana Wachowski, actress Laverne Cox, and several books from Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series.
In her ruling, Tolliver Giles wrote that evidence before the court indicated the book removal process had been “inconsistent and opaque.” Tolliver Giles expressed skepticism toward the government’s claim that removing books qualified as “government speech,” agreeing with the plaintiffs that DoDEA’s actions likely harmed students and amounted to viewpoint discrimination.
“Public school libraries have historically been loci of intellectual freedom, where students are ‘free to inquire, to study, and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding.’ Viewing public school libraries as places of academic freedom and intellectual pursuit conflicts with the United States’ notion that school libraries represent government speech,” she wrote.
“While Defendants maintain that ‘courts have repeatedly recognized’ that school library curation is government speech, the weight of the case law suggests otherwise,” Tolliver Giles continued. “While the Supreme Court has not definitely ruled on this question, sister courts have overwhelmingly found that the government speech doctrine does not pertain to public school libraries.”
Oregon State Rep. Cyrus Javadi announced last Friday that he's switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party, blasting GOP leaders for obstructing legislation that would have benefited his constituents and for pursuing an anti-LGBTQ agenda that "isolates minority communities when politically convenient."
Javadi, who confirmed on Substack he will seek re-election next year as a Democrat, boosts his new party's margin in the Oregon House to 37 seats out of 60.
In his Substack post, Javadi said Republicans blocked his efforts to help his district at every turn, prioritizing opposition to Democratic bills as a strategy rather than judging proposals on their merits.
Two pharmacists are suing Walgreens and the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy, alleging they were punished for refusing to dispense gender-affirming medications. They are seeking a religious exemption that would allow them to decline filling such prescriptions on moral grounds.
Minnesota law classifies it as unprofessional conduct for a pharmacist to refuse to dispense a valid prescription. Exceptions exist, but only for non-religious reasons, such as doubts about a drug's effectiveness.
State law also permits pharmacists to refuse prescriptions for abortion-inducing drugs. The plaintiffs argue the state should likewise clarify whether pharmacists can decline to dispense gender-affirming medications if doing so conflicts with their belief that gender is binary and fixed at birth, reports Minnesota Lawyer.
The Capital Pride Alliance and WorldPride DC organizers hosted a "wrap-up party" on September 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to unveil the WorldPride 2025 Impact Report, highlighting the celebration's economic and cultural reach.
The event, featuring food, drinks, and live performances, celebrated WorldPride’s success while giving LGBTQ community members a chance to reflect on the experience and the lessons learned from hosting a large-scale festival in D.C., helping build an infrastructure the city can use for future events.
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