DOE investigating removal of LGBT books from school library

The Department of Education's civil rights division is investigating the removal of LGBT books from a Texas school library.

"The Office for Civil Rights can confirm that there is an open investigation into Granbury ISD under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. We do not comment on pending investigations," the department announced in a Tuesday statement, per the Associated Press.

The investigation follows a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union based on a report indicating that the school district in Granbury, Texas, had ordered librarians to remove books addressing sexual orientation and transgender individuals.

Leaked audio material from a meeting with district Superintendent Jeremy Glenn appeared to reveal him saying, "I acknowledge that there are men that think they're women and there are women that think they're men. I don't have any issues with what people want to believe, but there's no place for it in our libraries."

The district acknowledged it was aware of Glenn's comments and stated the removal of the books followed a recommendation from a review committee that did not include him. The committee convened to pursue compliance with a state order that school libraries not include explicit materials.

The ACLU contended that the decision was motivated by less procedural motivations, pointing to Glenn's comments and asserting "[i]n this case it was made very clear, because the superintendent kind of said the quiet part out loud," said ACLU attorney Chloe Kempf. "It's pretty clear that that kind of motivation is animating a lot of these policies nationwide."