“Escambia provides a very vivid and disturbing example of what is happening across the country,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, “these politically motivated, ideologically driven, viewpoint-based book bans.”
Proponents of book restrictions say they are trying to protect children from inappropriate material and give parents more of a say in their children’s education. Many also object that these books are banned because they are still available in public libraries and bookstores. Young people, they say, should encounter sensitive topics under adult supervision, not just in the school library.
Several authors whose books have been removed or restricted in the district have joined the lawsuit, including Sarah Brannen, George M. Johnson, David Levithan, Kyle Lukoff and Ashley Hope Pérez.
Mrs Brannen’s picture book, “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding”, which features a girl whose uncle marries his friend, was challenged in Escambia by a resident who objected to the content because the “book contains alternative sexual ideologies” and “does not in lower levels in elementary not at all,” according to a form that was filled out.
An example of inappropriate content in the appeal was an illustration of Uncle Bobby holding his friend’s hand. Access to the book, which is aimed at 3- to 7-year-olds, is restricted during the grading period, meaning only students whose parents sign an opt-in form can read it, according to the lawsuit.
“It seems very clear from the nature of the complaints against the books that they are being removed on ideological grounds, and therefore it is clearly unconstitutional,” Ms Brannen said. “My book is limited because it contains LGBTQ characters.”
Penguin Random House was also part of the suit. Many of his books have been removed from Escambia’s school libraries or otherwise restricted, including “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “Push” by Sapphire, and “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. “We see an increase in these book banning activities and we felt compelled to support our authors, our teachers, our librarians, who are on the front lines of this battle every day,” said Nihar Malaviya, the company’s chief executive.
