LBGT children’s books have ‘no First Amendment right’ to school libraries, Florida judge rules
A federal judge has affirmed a Florida school’s right to remove LGBT books from its library.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor recently ruled against the authors of an LGBT children’s book who claimed their First Amendment rights were being violated.
The lawsuit dates back to 2023, when Florida’s Escambia County School District removed And Tango Makes Three and several other gender-oriented books from school libraries.
And Tango Makes Three was written for 2- to 5-year-olds and tells a story of two male penguins who adopt a female chick. It was authored by Justin Richardson, a clinical psychiatrist specializing in sexual development and parenting, and his husband, Peter Parnell. Like the fictional penguins, Richardson and Parnell share a daughter.
After their book was removed, Richardson and Parnell sued Escambia, arguing it was engaging in viewpoint discrimination.
“Beyond its scientifically accurate depiction of penguin behavior, Tango celebrates family values, adoption, and parental responsibility,” the complaint said.
“Tango’s authors, plaintiffs Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, wrote Tango to express a viewpoint that same-sex relationships and families with same-sex parents exist; that they can be happy, healthy, and loving; and that same-sex parents can adopt and raise healthy children.”
However, District Judge Winsor ruled Escambia was within its rights to remove the book from its libraries.
“There is no view of the facts that could support plaintiffs’ claim that the board engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination or otherwise violated the First Amendment with respect to Tango,” Winsor wrote.
“The author plaintiffs have no First Amendment right to speak through the library,” he continued. “Nor do the author plaintiffs have a First Amendment right to demand the library ignore the book’s viewpoint when determining whether to include it in its collection.”
Since the ruling was released, the plaintiffs have filed an appeal.
Florida isn’t the only state fighting to keep ideologically and sexually explicit books out of schools. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Carolina filed a lawsuit Oct. 7 challenging the state’s new law against age-inappropriate materials.