President Donald Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order 14190, Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling, directed a sweeping rollback of “woke ideology” in federal educational settings. The order included Department of Defense Education Activity schools. And it was explicit: federal entities were to remove or cease publication of materials that promote gender ideology, radical social justice narratives, or racially divisive content.
Despite the federal mandate, however, parents stationed at U.S. military bases around the globe are still finding books that contradict the spirit and letter of the executive order. This is especially true in library areas for the youngest readers outside of on-base schools. Libraries at Air Force, Army, and Navy installations continue to offer children’s books that push messages many parents find inappropriate, and, in some cases, disturbing.
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What’s showing up on military library bookshelves are full-fledged activist books that introduce children to transgenderism, radical political slogans, drag queens, and even narratives that demonize whiteness and American history.
At Aviano Air Base in Italy, home to two Air Force F-16 fighter squadrons, one mother was shocked to find copies of A is for Activist on display in the children’s section. The alphabet book, marketed for toddlers and preschoolers, includes pages like:
“T is for Trans. For Trains, Tiaras, Tulips, Tractors, And Tigers too! Trust in The True, he she They That is you!”
Another page shows a raised fist holding a broom beneath the text: “J is for Justice! Yay for Justice! Jia-Jing Jiang. Juanita. Jamal. Justice for the Janitors, Justicia for all!”
These are slogans drawn directly from progressive political movements. The book is intentionally designed to groom toddlers into activist worldviews. It’s not teaching children to be kind or fair. It’s teaching them to protest. The mother, a veteran of multiple duty stations and a former DoDEA employee, shared her reaction with me:
“When I confronted them in person, they said DoDEA (the base school) makes the selection of their books. I am shocked and appalled that these books are not only available on the taxpayers’ dime but also prominently displayed in the kids’ section. I hate that even after an executive order from our president, employees think they don’t have to follow the law. This shows how broken our system is and how much they want our children groomed.”
When she submitted an official complaint, the library staff’s response was telling. In a formal email, the supervisory librarian at the Aviano Base Library clarified that while the base follows executive orders regarding new DEI and gender-ideology publications, it does not apply the same standards retroactively to commercially published materials already in circulation. In other words, existing books, no matter their content, stay on the shelves.
The librarian noted that selection is partly governed by the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, and emphasized that “the selection process is free from censorship.” But to many parents, this isn’t about censorship. It’s about age-appropriateness, parental rights, and respecting federal law.
A second mother, currently stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, also raised concerns after taking her two young children, ages five and three, to her base’s library.
“The library is a space that I can give them freedom to be independent in the pre-K through elementary school room. They can pick out their own books, and it’s been so fun.”
But recently, her daughter pulled a book off the shelf because she saw a princess on the cover. The book, The Maiden and the Princess, is a romantic story between two women. The mother then found Prince & Knight, which culminates in a same-sex kiss, and Cinderella and a Mouse Called Fred, in which a transgender mouse falls in love with Cinderella. Perhaps most shocking: Swish, Swish!, Go the Drag Queen’s Hips, a book about drag queens performing in extravagant costumes, hips swaying.
The mother especially lamented that her children were encountering these books without any warning, guidance, or parental oversight.
Similarly, at the Navy base in Bahrain, headquarters for the Navy’s 5th Fleet, photos from the children’s reading area show large displays dedicated to “DEI Heritage,” highlighting themes of race, gender, and social activism. T
These were found and documented by Amy Haywood, founder of the nonprofit group Military Families in Support of Parental Rights, which has been tracking the continued presence of progressive ideology in military education settings. She told me, “It is beyond alarming that a book about men with a sexual fetish for cosplaying as garish women is being made available to small children in a U.S. military base library. Who is curating the collection? What books were weeded in order to make room for this and other books that further the lie that children can be born in the wrong body?”
This isn’t just a battle over books; it’s a deeper look at a federal system openly ignoring a presidential order. Too many librarians, administrators, and educational bureaucrats continue to act as if they know better and have more authority than the chain of command.
Even when parents raise concerns, the response is bureaucratic deflection. Officials claim no affiliation with DoDEA, deny responsibility for selections, or simply say the books “don’t violate policy.” It’s a hall of mirrors that frustrates concerned parents.
In turn, military parents are now in charge of reclaiming parental authority over what their children are exposed to.
One such effort is the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act, which was recently delivered to all 535 offices in the House and Senate. The letter attached to the bill highlights the failure of existing military family organizations to protect parents from ideological overreach. The first two priorities? Matters facing military families, especially in education and library content, remain unaddressed by legacy advocacy groups.
A SENSIBLE LOOK AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT CUTS
The problem is not merely that inappropriate or ideological books exist. The problem is that they exist in places where military families assume materials are age-appropriate and politically neutral. Places where a presidential executive order should mean something.
Instead, military parents are finding out that the culture war isn’t confined to elite universities or progressive school districts. And if you don’t look closely, your five-year-old may be learning about gender fluidity or drag queens without your consent, and with your tax dollars.