Florida school district sued for banning book about two male penguins
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A central Florida school district is being sued by six pupils, their parents and two authors for banning access to a kids’ book about a male penguin couple that raises offspring together.
A school board in Lake County, near Orlando, decided in 2022 to restrict kindergarten through third grade students from reading a book titled “And Tango Makes Three,” NBC News reported.
The book is based on the true story of two penguins at the Central Park Zoo who adopt and raise an orphaned penguin named Tango.
At the time, the district claimed that the ban was related to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which restricts “instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The law applies to students in kindergarten through third grade but extends to material “not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Critics referred to it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, but in March 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law.
Last month, DeSantis expanded the law so that it now prohibits instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity material in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
The revision also restricts reproductive health education for sixth to 12th graders, and demands that material “be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
On Tuesday, the “Tango Makes Three” lawsuit was submitted, arguing that the law is “vague and overbroad” and restricting students’ access in a way that violated their Firs they adde.t rights.
“By discriminating based on content and viewpoint, it infringes the authors’ right to freedom of expression,” lawyers claim in the suit.
“By restricting access to a book, which was previously freely available, for narrowly partisan and political reasons, it infringes students’ right to receive information,” they added.
Six students ranging in age from five to 12 also signed on to the suit through their parents or legal guardians, citing their interest in reading the book.
With News Wire Services
