In Fernandina Beach, Florida, a school district in the northeast part of the state has agreed to return thirty-six books to its libraries following a settlement reached on Thursday. This decision comes after students and parents filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming that restricting access to numerous titles with LGBTQ+ content was unlawful.
Among the books to be reinstated is “And Tango Makes Three,” a children’s book based on a true story about two male penguins raising a chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson were part of the lawsuit against the Nassau County School Board, located about 35 miles northeast of Jacksonville along the Georgia border.
This legal action is one of several challenges to book bans in Florida since the passing of legislation by state lawmakers last year, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, which eased the process of objecting to educational materials deemed explicit or obscene. Recently, major publishers and well-known authors filed a federal lawsuit in Orlando, arguing that specific parts of the law violate First Amendment rights.
Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks collectively stated that combating unconstitutional laws in Florida and nationwide is a critical mission.
Among the books removed from the Nassau County school libraries were works by authors like Toni Morrison, Khaled Hosseini, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jodi Picoult, and Alice Sebold. The school district, as part of the settlement, acknowledged that “And Tango Makes Three” is not obscene, suitable for students of all ages, and holds educational value.
One of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, Lauren Zimmerman, expressed satisfaction, mentioning that students would once again have access to books by celebrated authors covering diverse perspectives and ideas. The school district’s attorney, Brett Steger, did not provide immediate comments regarding the settlement.
