The Central Bucks School District in moderate Bucks County is not the first place where many would look for an anti-LGBTQ backslash, but that is exactly where you will find it, reports Emily Rizzo for the WHYY.

Pennsylvania’s third-largest school district with over 17,000 students is facing its first book ban. The move follows a wave of anti-masking and anti-vaccination protests that helped populate school boards with right-wing activists who seized the momentum.

Among them is Debra Cannon, a vocal member of a Facebook group called Moms for Liberty Bucks County PA a group, as described on their Facebook page as “dedicated to the survival of America by unifying, educating, and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”

When Cannon and two more candidates ran for school board, they were endorsed by conservative-leaning Proud American Patriots Network, the group linked with the Three Percenters movement, a militia group.

Despite running in a politically mixed suburb, Cannon won in November of 2021. Her victory shocked many of her neighbors.

“I fear that policy changes are coming with this rhetoric,” said Anusha Viswanathan. “It feels imminent because it feels like it’s going to affect my child, either on a very personal level or truly all the children in this district.”

Listen to the entire podcast at the WHYY.