The surge in the removal of books - many of which are about race, sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity - came amid a flurry of new Florida laws such as the Stop WOKE Act, which restricts teaching about systemic racism in schools, and the so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill, which bans instruction involving gender identity and sexual orientation before fourth grade (recently extended, in large part, through the end of high school under a new Florida Department of Education rule). The organization reports that Florida had the second-highest number of book-banning incidents in the nation during that period, trailing only Texas. The nation has seen a surge in book bans over the past two years as parents, conservative activists, and elected officials have flooded school districts with requests to wipe scores of titles from classrooms and libraries - with Florida still leading the pack in such incidents.Īfter more than 200 books were banned in various school districts across Florida between the summer of 2021 and 2022, districts continued the crackdown, banning 357 books between July and December 2022, according to the nonprofit organization PEN America. Still, there's one item school districts in Florida appear to have consistently banned more than almost any other U.S.

It's part of a nationwide push by conservative politicians to draw their battle lines in the culture wars and signal to their constituency that they're decidedly anti-woke. Ron DeSantis' administration and the state's Republican-dominated legislature have instituted a dizzying number of regulations restricting what Floridians can say, read, and scroll through mindlessly. “Princess Prettypants” in Zombies Vs.Florida's been banning a lot of things these days.įrom an AP African American studies course to classroom gender-identity discussions to TikTok on university phones, Gov.“Falling in Lust at the Jersey Shore” in Cosmo’s Sexiest Stories Ever: Three Naughty Tales(August 2011).“The Protectionist” in What You Wish For: A Book for Darfur (September 2011).“Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction” in Out of the Blue (August 2012).From a Certain Point of View (Star Wars) (October 2017).

Project princess by meg cabot