A Pride display at the King County Library System. Photo: Shutterstock
A Florida school district agreed to re-shelve 36 books, many of which contain LGBTQ+ content, to settle a lawsuit concerning adherence to a state book ban law.
The lawsuit was brought forth by Peter Parnell and his husband Justin Richardson — authors of one of the banned books, the LGBTQ+ children’s book And Tango Makes Three — as well as by multiple families of youth who wanted to check the book out. The suit sought to reinstate the 36 books that were removed, with a prominent focus given to Tango. The suit also sought monetary compensation for damages from the censorious state law.
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The lawsuit against the district was filed several months after November 2023 when Nassau County School District officials removed the books from library shelves due to pressure from the right-wing advocacy group Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF). CDF pressured the district to evaluate books that were deemed to contain “obscene” material. These books included content on LGBTQ+ topics, racial issues and mental health.
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Pressure for the books’ removal occurred amid the passage of HB 1069. The bill, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, severely restricts LGBTQ+ books from K-12 public schools by deeming them as “obscene.”
And Tango Makes Three is a book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at the Central Park Zoo. It contains no sexual content and is aimed at children of all ages.
The settlement requires the school district to immediately reinstate Tango, and to return a set of 22 books back onto their shelves by Friday, September 13. The other books include Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kukli, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.
Additionally, the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is mandated to go back into circulation on the same date for students in grade 9 and above. The remaining 12 books will also go back into circulation for students aged 18 or older and those who receive parental consent. These books include A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Nassau County school district is also required to issue a notice that they’ve reinstated these books, and to provide an update on their status at the end of the year. There will be no damages or attorney fees awarded to either party.
This settlement does not challenge the provisions in HB 1069, and only applies to Nassau County School District. A separate lawsuit against the law concerning several major book publishers seeks to overturn the law. That case is still pending, and no decision has been made yet.
“This settlement — a watershed moment in the ongoing battle against book censorship in the United States —significantly restores access to important works that were unlawfully removed from the shelves of Nassau County, Florida’s public school libraries,” said Lauren Zimmerman of Selendy Gay, the law firm representing the plaintiffs. “Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas.”
Jack Knocke, the executive director of the Nassau County chapter of Citizens Defending Freedom, said to the Tallahassee Democrat that a good portion of the books “clearly violate Florida Laws that protect children in schools.”
LGBTQ Nation reached out to Nassau County School District for comment but did not receive a response before publication. This article will be updated accordingly if the district responds.
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