Comments to House Education – K-12 Committee on HB 636

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Chairman, committee members — thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Paige Sullivan, and I come before you as a North Carolina parent, someone who wants the best for my children — just like every person in this room.

I know we all want to protect our kids. That’s not up for debate. But I’m here to ask you to pause, to take a closer look at House Bill 636 — not just what it says, but what it does, and more importantly, what it risks.

As a parent, I believe in transparency, age-appropriate materials, and knowing what my children are learning. But I also believe in trust—trust in educators, trust in local school boards, and trust in my own judgment as a parent.

This bill, though well-intended, oversteps. It allows a small handful of objections—just ten letters—to challenge materials in our public school libraries. That’s not empowering parents. It empowers the loudest voices to speak over the rest of us, not just for their own children but also for mine.

And let me be clear: it’s not just graphic content at risk. It’s books like And Tango Makes Three — a sweet, award-winning, true story picture book about two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo who raise a baby chick together. There’s no sexual content. No explicit scenes. Just a story about family, love, and belonging.

And yet, under this bill’s vague definitions of what’s “harmful to minors” or “pervasively vulgar,” And Tango Makes Three could be pulled off shelves. It has already been in other states. What message does that send to a child with two moms? Or to a student trying to understand that families don’t all look the same — but all can be filled with love?

If this bill passes, books like Tango could be deemed inappropriate—not because they are inappropriate—but because someone, somewhere, is uncomfortable. But discomfort is not danger. Exposure is not endorsement. And stories like this don’t harm children. They help them understand the world—and each other—a little better.

I know this committee values freedom. You believe in parental rights, local control, and limited government. But this bill undermines all three. It imposes a sweeping process that makes our libraries more about fear than learning. It takes decisions away from local communities and places them in a process more prone to pressure than prudence.

Let’s not set a precedent where a single viewpoint controls access for every child. Let’s not create a chilling effect where our educators are too afraid to include any material that might ruffle feathers.

I’m here to ask for balance and a process that respects parents—all parents, not a tiny percentage—and protects our kids without narrowing their world.

Please. Let’s take a step back. Let’s rewrite this bill to reflect North Carolina’s values — not a culture war, but a community that supports education, freedom, and trust.

Thank you for your time.