Biden administration to appoint anti-book ban coordinator as part of new LGBTQ protections

Several new protections for LGBTQ students and families were unveiled on Thursday by the Biden administration, including establishing a coordinator to "lead the charge" against banning books in schools, administration officials said.

The yet-to-be-named Education Department coordinator will train school districts and advise them that banning books "may violate federal civil laws if they create a hostile environment for students," said White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden. 

Almost 1,500 instances of book banning in schools, affecting 874 different titles in the first half of this school year, according to PEN America's Index of School Book Bans, representing a nearly 30% increase over the previous school year.