Chaya Raichik, Libs of Tiktok creator, appointed to Oklahoma Dept. of Education committee

The culture-war agitator, whose posts have been linked to bomb threats at Oklahoma schools, will influence their bookshelves

Chaya Raichik, creator of the X account LibsOfTiktok, at a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in March 2023. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

By Louis Keene January 23, 2024

Chaya Raichik, the Orthodox Jew whose “Libs of Tiktok” social media accounts have made her a culture-war firebrand and put her at the forefront of anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy, has been named to the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee.

Through Libs of Tiktok, Raichik has endorsed book bans, and her posts have led to the removal of certain titles from school libraries.

Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the appointment Tuesday in a statement calling Raichik “a much-needed and powerful voice.”

“No one has done more to expose what the radical left is all about,” Walters wrote.

Raichik built a following of more than 2.5 million on X (formerly Twitter) under the handle @LibsofTikTok, which she has used to attack efforts to promote racial, gender and LGBTQ+ equality in the school system. Her campaigns, which frequently slur LGBTQ+ people with terms including “groomers,” are far-reaching on the American right, and have been linked to violent threats against hospitals, LGBTQ+ venues, schools and libraries.

Raichik has spearheaded previous efforts to influence Oklahoma school systems. In August, the Tulsa School District reportedly received bomb threats for six days straight after Walters shared a Libs of Tiktok post showing a librarian in the district saying she would promote a “woke” agenda. (In the caption to her original post, the librarian said she wanted to promote kindness and interest in books.)

Raichik, who previously worked as a real estate agent, operated the Libs of TikTok account anonymously from its creation in 2020 until 2022, when The Washington Post revealed her identity. Though she declined comment for that story, Raichik has since come to embrace her celebrity, with appearances on FOX News, The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and interviews in national outlets like USA Today.

Oklahoma Department of Education spokesperson Dan Isett told USA Today Tuesday that Raichik will be tasked with “providing guidance and recommendations to the Oklahoma State Board of Education regarding the adherence of books and materials available within Oklahoma public schools.”

Among the books Raichik has moved to have banned from schools is Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, a graphic novel by the queer author Alison Bechdel, and Mike Curato’s Flamer, about a boy who is bullied for appearing gay. Raichik called the books “pornographic.”

Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York magazine and Vice. He is based in Los Angeles.

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