American actress Julianna Moore has been left 'in great shock' after Donald Trump reportedly banned her self-written children's book from schools across the states.
The 64-year-old took to social media this week to slam the controversial new legislation, which has seen her kids' novel Freckleface Strawberry removed from school shelves across her home-country.
The book's removal comes after the Department of Defence Education Activity sent parents a memo last week, declaring library books in schools across America would be examined for content 'potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics'.
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As per The Guardian, among the handful of books that were 'relocated to the professional collection for evaluation with access limited to professional staff' to undergo a 'compliance review' was Strawberry Freckleface.
Moore's 2007 book tells the tale of a young girl with red hair and freckles who is sadly bullied by her classmates, which leads her to feel isolated.
Eventually, she embraces what makes her different and goes on to live happily.
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The novel's success resulted in further sequels, and in 2010, the story - which Moore has since revealed is semi-autobiographical - inspired a stage musical version.
Taking to Instagram yesterday (16 Feb), Moore shared an image of the book with a lengthy, emotional caption.
"It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, Freckleface Strawberry, has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense," she began.
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"Freckleface Strawberry is a semi-autobiographical story about a seven year old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them when she realizes that she is different 'just like everybody else.'
"It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community."
Moore went on to admit she's 'particularly stunned' by the fact that Trump has enacted his order onto someone who once studied at Frankfurt American High School, a Department of Defence school that once operated in Germany.
She referenced her own upbringing: "I grew up with a father who is a Vietnam veteran and spent his career in the #USArmy. I could not be prouder of him and his service to our country.
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"It is galling for me to realize that kids like me, growing up with a parent in the service and attending a @dodea_edu school will not have access to a book written by someone whose life experience is so similar to their own.
"And I can’t help but wonder what is so controversial about this picture book that cause it to be banned by the US Government."
The star added that she's 'truly saddened' by recent events, confessing that she 'never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right'.
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"Thank you to @penamerica for bringing this to my attention. #FAHS #frecklefacestrawberry @uyenloseordraw @thebookgrp," she concluded.
Several huge-name stars have since taken to the comments of Moore's post to offer support, including fellow movie star Halle Berry, who wrote: "Oh my friend, this is frightening! I’m so sorry this is happening!!"
Actress Michelle Pfeiffer added: "Are you joking?? - How can we get this book?"
Chloe Grace Moretz questioned: "Wow , truly shocked about this ??? Literally why??"
And Ellen Pompeo added: "I’d say what a bunch of donkeys except I love donkeys soooo once again …don’t even know what to say"
It comes just weeks after Donald Trump signed an executive order titled 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government'.
Around the same time, he gave his approval on another policy, titled 'Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling'.
Topics: Celebrity, US News, Donald Trump, Politics
Rhianna Benson