- Penguin Random House, PEN America, authors and parents are suing a Florida school district in an effort to make sexually explicit books available to students.
- In a Wednesday lawsuit against Escambia County School District, the plaintiffs alleged that the school system had violated the first amendment rights of students and authors by removing ten books from its system.
- The books allegedly removed from Escambia County School District’s catalog include “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a memoir about the experience of a black queer boy growing up that describes graphic sexual encounters, and “The Bluest Eye,” a story that describes incest, pedophilia and masturbation.
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Publisher, Authors Sue To Keep Sexually Explicit Books In Florida Schools
FILE - Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books, including "The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison, that have been the subject of complaints from parents, on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Publisher Penguin Random House and PEN America sued a Florida school district Wednesday, May 17, 2023, over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities, the latest opposition to a policy central to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda as he prepares to run for president. Among the removed books are “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed and “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
