Penguin Random House and various LGBTQ+ advocates have taken legal action against a Florida school district due to its book bans.
Over the last few years, right-winged lawmakers from various states – including Florida, Texas, and Utah – have used their power to ban books with LGBTQ+ content and themes regarding race and diversity.
According to PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans, the first half of the 2022-2023 school year had “1,477 instances of individual books banned, affecting 874 unique titles.” While conservative lawmakers are showing no signs of slowing down their hateful crusade, LGBTQ+ activists and allied organisations have started to fight back against the terrifying form of censorship.
On 17 May, Penguin Random House and PEN America filed a lawsuit against Florida’s Escambia County School District and School Board after officials banned/restricted LGBTQ+ and POC-led books from its libraries.