Earlier this year, a school board in Maryland voted to implement a policy that will restrict students’ access to sexually explicit books at school. This followed in the footsteps of school boards across the country that implemented policies to protect children from this kind of content in schools.
The passage of this policy came as a shock to LGBTQ+ advocates who support children being allowed to read explicit books about sexual orientation and gender identity in school
“I think that the unanimous vote in favor of this policy is further proof that [the issue] of having [sexual] content in schools spans the entire political spectrum," Moms for Liberty Chapter President Kit Hart explained in an interview at the time, adding that "It is not a political issue."
"The entire idea of parental rights is an idea that all parents can agree with," Hart continued. "We're very happy with the result."
Last in, in one state, more than 700 books were removed or discontinued from schools. This is up from 400 last year.
This occurred in Florida. The list of books removed was published by the Florida Department of Education.
According to a report from The Hill, the state’s Department of Education said that the books were removed due to an objection by a parent, student, or resident of a county (via The Hill):
The list shows how many books were removed by different school districts, with some districts removing none and others removing more than 100.
Among the titles removed includes “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “Forever” by Judy Blume.
Predictably, left-wing activists came out against this.
“A restriction of access is a restriction on one’s freedom to read,” Kasey Meehan of PEN America told the Associated Press.
“Students lose the ability to access books that mirror their own lived experiences, to access books that help them learn and empathize with people who … have different life experiences,” Meehan added.
In a statement to AP, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education explained that there are no books being banned in Florida. They stated that this is part of the state’s push to remove “sexually explicit materials” from schools.
“There are no books banned in Florida and sexually explicit materials do not belong in schools. Once again, far left activists are pushing the book ban hoax on Floridians. The better question is why do these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit materials,” spokesperson Sydney Booker said.
“The better question is, why do these groups continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit materials?” Booker added.