The South Carolina government has been warned that the cuts imposed on universities for recommending gay-themed books could open the way for First Amendment/free speech legal challenges.
A coalition including the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of South Carolina has warned that the attack over Alison Bechdel's seminal autobiography Fun Home is "constitutionally suspect".
The state House recently approved a budget cut of $52,000 (£31,500) from the College of Charleston for featuring the book on its recommended reading list, as well as $17,142 (£10,398) from the University of South Carolina Upstate for including Out Loud: The Best of Rainbow Radio.
"Penalising state educational institutions financially simply because members of the legislature disapprove of specific elements of the educational program is educationally unsound and constitutionally suspect," said National Coalition Against Censorship director Joan Bertin in a statement.
"It threatens academic freedom and the quality of education in the state, and could well expose the state to potential liability on First Amendment grounds."
The cuts represent the amount each school spent on their 2013 reading programs.
Christian groups last year attacked Fun Home - which concerns the life of Bechdel's closeted father as well as her own coming out - as "pornographic".
"It's sad and absurd that the College of Charleston is facing a funding cut for teaching my book - a book which is after all about the toll that this sort of small-mindedness takes on people's lives," said Bechdel in a previous statement.
