Share this page!

Maybe Scrolly?
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Twitter logo
Dec 13 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
Banned book of the day is "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.

With its true story of 2 male penguins raising a baby, it's been targeted for years. But we @PENamerica are seeing an uptick in efforts to ban it across FL... #FreeTheBooks Image
In Lake County. the district banned the book specifically b/c of the "Don't Say Gay" law. Note: the law bans "classroom instruction" on gender and sexuality, not library books. No matter. 🤷‍♂️ h/t @FLFreedomRead
In Escambia, FL, Tango was one of 100+ books challenged by a teacher, which resulted in it going on backroom shelves for a time and requiring a parental permission slip. The objection? "LGBTQ agenda using penguins", and some key excerpts:
🐧🏳️‍🌈🐧 pnj.com/story/news/loc… ImageImage
Schools in Escambia reviewed the book, and here's some of what they said -- aiming to influence the district's review. One referenced a specific prohibition in Escambia on reading any LGBTQ books aloud. ! ImageImage
Turns out Tango was *also* on a list of 58 titles called "pornographic" and circulated to districts across FL this year by the 'FL Citizens Alliance'. Some put it under review, pulled, or banned outright. Here's Lee County:

[Should go without saying, these penguins are not porn] Image
In Collier, Tango was slapped with a warning label - an "advisory notice to parents" that says "some" find it "unsuitable". Why? Simply b/c it was on this list of 58 books from FLCA. See the pattern? pen.org/press-release/… Image
In Walton, superintendent got the FLCA list & ordered all 58 books removed "for review". That was in April. But seems the review hasn't started. Also turns out Tango and many books weren't *on* their library shelves. They were ordered removed anyways. pen.org/book-banning-i…
FLCA is just one of many groups that have driven the movement to ban books for the last year, profiled in @nytimes this week. What's happening with Tango is a good illustration of how a small group is having outsized impact on what all students can read 📚nytimes.com/2022/12/12/boo…
One more for good measure? The Highlands school board *also* removed Tango "for review" this summer, and it doesn't appear yet back on shelves. It was one of a bunch that were pulled (grayed, below). The list... looks like the one from FLCA... again.
credit: @FLFreedomRead Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Jonathan Friedman 📚

Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @jonfreadom

Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Dec 15
You may be surprised to learn that books by @MargaretAtwood @jodipicoult @judyblume @kellyyanghk @johngreen are being determined to have "no serious literary value for minors" in Utah schools.

Latest crop of 44 banned books hinges on that assessment 🧵
stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2… ImageImage
Yes, under Utah's new "sensitive materials" law, librarians are being pressured to ban books that include any of a wide range of sexual content, if -- and, this is key -- if the district determines a book has "no serious value for minors."
Here's the list of 44 being banned in Washington County. Many are widely recognized, popular, award-winning literary works. They're being determined to have "no serious value for minors" to appease the vocal activists who want books w/ sex of any kind banned. ImageImage
Read 7 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Dec 7
Well, it happened. Someone banned a Berenstain Bears book... Image
It's just 1 of a whopping 176 titles that were ordered out of classrooms in a Florida district. The books were part of a large collection to add diverse & inclusive literature to classrooms. They were ordered off shelves in January for extra "review"...
The list is a breathtaking array of books celebrating the diversity of human identities, cultures, traditions -- books historically not available in schools. The collection was banned wholesale in a multi-racial district! Books by 100+ authors incl @Lupita_Nyongo @LindaSuePark ImageImage
Read 10 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Dec 5
In Escambia, Florida, someone is trying to ban this children's book about Wilma Rudolph, the African-American sprinter who set world records in running and won gold medals at the 1960 Olympics.

What's so "controversial" about it?...
The teacher who filed the complaint-- which led to the book being restricted to back rooms and requiring specific parental permission for a student to even see it -- zeroed in on these 2 pages as allegedly breaking new Florida education laws, incl the Stop WOKE act.
The book is no longer restricted, but still "under review."

This is an encapsulation of the kinds of stories, histories being targeted for banning all over... In fact, someone tried to ban the same book in Prosper ISD, Texas earlier this year 👇👇👇
Read 7 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Nov 22
Book banning is not just people showing up to school boards anymore. 🧵

In numerous states, new fronts are emerging-- state laws instilling fear in schools, or proposals to wholly defund public libraries.
E.g. New law in UT, HB 374, leading to bans 👇 ksl.com/article/505196…
Similar story in MO, with SB 775, that we @PENamerica called attention to last week. Fear of reprisal--and criminal punishment--led to an astonishing array of book bans. We found at least 300 or so, but that's a minimum count. pen.org/spiegelman-atw…
In TN, a state-appointed commission is setting new guidelines for books in schools. The body will soon be able to issue book bans; as any decision on the suitability of any single book in any single school will apply state-wide. So much for local control?
tennessean.com/story/news/pol…
Read 8 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Nov 13
In the race for most draconian school district, Keller ISD in TX is leading. They vote tomorrow on a policy that would ban books with "gender fluidity". This is the district that prev. banned The Bible, graphic adap. of Diary of Anne Frank, among others... dallasnews.com/opinion/commen…
The policy would ban books w/ "discussion or depiction" of gender fluidity or which "espouses the view that gender is merely a social construct" from ALL schools. Would surely be interpreted widely against LGBTQ. They want to close minds to the real world.
More background on the district... 👀

nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna4…
Read 4 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Nov 7
A school board immediately revokes access to a long list of books in response to a thinly-supported objection, usually from 1 person.

Board members don't:
❎ read the books
❎ follow policies
❎ say how long these removals will last

It's called book banning.
📚📚📚🧵
Boards say all the time books are just 'under review'. That's what a board member said last week in Beaufort, SC, where they've recently removed access to 99 books based on a single complaint.
In Duval in FL, board says 176 books are just "under review"... since January. There was no official challenge. District ordered the books removed from classrooms. The books are about non-white and LGBTQ+ identities. Teachers and students can't use them.
bookriot.com/duval-county-p… ImageImage
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Send Email!

:(