Judge Rules Harford County Board Illegally Banned ‘Flamer’ From School Libraries

A Harford County Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday that the county’s school board violated state law and the First Amendment when it removed a graphic novel about a gay teenager from school library shelves — the first court test of Maryland’s 2024 Freedom to Read Act.

What We Know: Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Curtin ruled Thursday, Oct. 22, against the Harford County Board of Education’s effort to ban the graphic novel “Flamer” from county school libraries. The ruling requires the book to remain on shelves.

Confirmed Information: Judge Curtin deliberated for two hours before finding the board had “inserted its own opinions into the decision, and thus acted arbitrarily and illegally.” She found the board failed to follow its own policies and procedures, and said the board’s “collective wisdom” was not sufficient to override the recommendation of a formal reconsideration committee that had reviewed the book under district policy.

The ruling is the first court interpretation of Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act, a 2024 state law that prohibits removing library materials based on “partisan, ideological or religious disapproval.”

The dispute began in November 2024 when a parent formally asked the district to remove the book, arguing it contained sexual content and profanity and was not age-appropriate. The parent said the book “plants seeds in the minds of children.”

Under district policy, a nine-member reconsideration committee — made up of teachers, staff, parents, students and community members — reviewed the book. The committee received training on state law as part of that process and unanimously recommended keeping “Flamer” in high school libraries. The superintendent supported that recommendation.

The board overrode both. In June 2025, members voted 5-3 in a closed session to remove the book from all county libraries, calling it “pervasively vulgar” and citing “extensive profanity, sexual situations and demeaning observations of females.” The board’s closed-door vote also raised questions about transparency. The decision was reportedly missing from the board’s meeting minutes, despite a district policy requiring documentation of closed meetings. The board’s then-president later said a state review had found no violation of Maryland’s Open Meetings Act.

Parents and community advocates appealed to the Maryland State Board of Education, which reversed the ban in fall 2025. The state board found the county board’s decision was arbitrary, unreasonable and illegal, and said the board had provided no reason for rejecting the committee’s recommendation and showed no evidence of having reviewed the novel in its entirety. The state board directed the county board to revisit its review procedures.

The state board’s decision revealed that the parent who originally challenged Flamer acknowledged not having read the entire book.

The November 25, 2024, complaint instead referenced concerns about the book’s content, community values and a Fox News report about objections in Michigan.

The county board then filed an administrative appeal with the Circuit Court seeking to reinstate the ban. Thursday’s ruling rejected that appeal.

About the Book: “Flamer” is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel by author Mike Curato, published in 2020. It follows Aiden Navarro, a 14-year-old Filipino American boy navigating Boy Scouts summer camp in 1995 as he grapples with his emerging gay identity, bullying and suicidal ideation. The book also explores self-acceptance, systemic discrimination and the experience of growing up as an outsider.

The artwork is predominantly black and white, with oranges and reds used to highlight moments of symbolic or emotional weight. “Flamer” won the Lambda Literary Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature in 2021.

The book has drawn challenges in school districts across the country since its publication, frequently appearing on lists of the most frequently challenged books in the United States. Objections have typically centered on its depictions of adolescent sexuality and its LGBTQ themes — the same grounds raised in Harford County.

Speculation: The information in this section is unconfirmed community speculation, not established fact. These claims are included because they are circulating publicly around the developing story. They have not been confirmed by authorities or independently verified by this newsroom.

Public discussion on social media following the ruling has focused heavily on the cost of the board’s legal fight. Community members are questioning how much taxpayer money the Harford County Board of Education has spent pursuing the ban through two rounds of appeals after its own reconsideration committee, superintendent and ultimately the state board all sided against removal. The board has not addressed that question publicly.

Some commenters are also speculating about whether the board will seek a further appeal, though no such action has been announced.

Some social media commenters have questioned Judge Yolanda Curtin’s impartiality, claiming she was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore. Maryland Judiciary records show that former Gov. Martin O’Malley appointed Curtin to the Circuit Court in 2013.