Midlands school libraries remove children’s book over LGBTQ+ relationship
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South Carolina Book Bans
The state now has 22 books banned from all public school classrooms and libraries, becoming the nation’s leader in book bans.
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A children’s picture book about the life of tennis great Billie Jean King has been removed from libraries in one Midlands school district for what officials determined was inappropriate content.
The book “I Am Billie Jean King” by author Brad Meltzer is an illustrated biography of the tennis star targeted at readers from the ages of 5 to 9, according to its Amazon listing.
But after one parent complained about the book to the Lexington-Richland 5 school district, administrators removed the book from libraries at three different schools in the Chapin-Irmo area district.
On one page of the book, published in 2019, the 39-time Grand Slam winner mentions that she is gay and married to a woman. But administrators decided that the book doesn’t meet its age and grade level standards, the district said in an email, because the district’s health education standards “do not teach preferential lifestyles or romantic feelings.”
The district cited the state’s 1988 Comprehensive Health Education Act, which says South Carolina schools’ sex education programs “may not include a discussion of alternate sexual lifestyles from heterosexual relationships including, but not limited to, homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases.”
Normally, a book would only be removed by a formal challenge from a parent, followed by a review by a committee pulled together from teachers, librarians and community members to decide if the book should be returned to school shelves. But in this case, district officials say the book will still be available to students at the affected schools. It will just be moved to the school counselor’s office, where it can be accessed with written parental approval.
It’s the latest push back against books in schools containing LGBTQ+ characters and themes, which have become a frequent target for book challenges in recent years. The S.C. Board of Education this month voted to bar 10 books from public schools statewide, bringing the total to 22 and in the process becoming the state with the most banned books in the country, most of them challenged by a single parent.
New rules adopted by the state Department of Education last year focus on removing books with sexual content. But critics have called those standards vague, and the King book’s only mention of sex is noting the protagonist’s relationship.
“Around this time, I also realized I was gay,” King says in the book. “Being gay means that if you’re a girl, you love and have romantic feelings for other girls — and if you’re a boy, you love and have romantic feelings for other boys.
“Eventually Larry and I stopped being married and I fell in love with a wonderful woman named Ilana,” she says. “You can’t choose who you fall in love with. Your heart will tell you.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM.
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