Can you ban a cartoon book about gay penguins?

The authors of a popular children’s book which depicts two male penguins who raise a chick together are suing a Florida school district after it barred students in kindergarten through third grade from accessing the book in district libraries. The suit argues that the ban violates the First Amendment by depriving children of their constitutional right to access information and engaging in viewpoint discrimination against the authors.

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Following the passage of the Parental Rights in Education Act, public schools in Florida were banned from engaging in classroom discussions on “sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” In April, the Florida Board of Education voted to expand the ban to all grades, with narrow exceptions for age-appropriate health education.

While neither law explicitly mentions school libraries, many schools began to remove books from their libraries out of concern that books’ subject matter would violate the ban. One of those frequently targeted books was And Tango Makes Three, a picture book published in 2005 that tells the story of two male penguins who mate and eventually raise a chick together, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.

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