A union-aligned activist group in Minnesota organized a community event aimed at mobilizing support for progressive candidates in upcoming school board races.

The School Board Integrity Project (SBIP) held a Freedom to Read Book Fair at a venue called “Queermunity,” which is described as a “Queer-Owned & Operated Social Enterprise Café | Co+Working | Event Venue.”

“Join us for a joyful day of books, community, and advocacy—while standing up for every student’s freedom to read!” the event description reads.

The SBIP is an LGBTQ+ activist organization that promotes school board candidates and has accused “well-funded right-wing extremist groups” of “organizing and winning local school board elections,” which it says have turned education into “divisive political battlegrounds” over “book bans, LGBTQ discrimination, and curriculum restrictions — history whitewashed, facts erased, and kids bullied.”

The book fair featured:

• Book-themed vendors, independent bookstores, and advocacy partners
• Author talks, book signings, and engaging conversations
• Poetry, art, and live performances
• Story time, activities, and programming for families
• Silent auction featuring unique items and experiences
• Resources to empower voters ahead of the fall school board elections

The group’s Facebook page advertised author signings, story hours, games, giveaways, bookish drinks from the Queermunity Cafe, exclusive school board and Freedom to Read merch, a Freedom to Read Rally, a school board election information station and info about the Human Rights Campaign Welcoming Schools curriculum.

Other appearances included local authors, Activist and rapper Guante and Ladies of the Lakes, a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence drag queen group, who allegedly participated in a story hour.

Local businesses were featured, including Beck’s Books, which is “a queer and neurodivergent-owned (primarily used) bookstore centering and celebrating marginalized voices,” Black Garnet Books, which was started “during the Summer of 2020 in direct response to state violence, as well as the purposeful and unconscious exclusion of Black people from the literature community” and the Out and About Book Bus, which aims to build “LGBTQIA+ visibility and queer joy through free children’s books in Minnesota.”

Other activities include the SBIP Big Banned Books Wheel “Where Everyone’s a Winner” and give aways from the Education Minnesota teachers’ union

SBIP has a list of 2025 candidates who signed the SBIP Candidate Pledge, vowing to advocate “for students of every background regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith, ability, or zip code and being willing to push back on the politicization of our children’s lives and well-being and lead with empathy” and foster “a welcoming environment where all students can come to school as their authentic selves and have a sense of belonging to learn and thrive without fear of harm regardless of their differences.”

Additionally, a group called Gender Justice published a joint letter initiative for the state’s school board candidates and members to sign, advocating for “the full inclusion of transgender and nonbinary students in school athletics,” which they argue is protected until Title IX, the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) and the Minnesota Constitution.