A federal judge has scheduled a Sept. 15 hearing in a request for a preliminary injunction in a fight about access in school libraries to the children’s book “And Tango Makes Three.”
U.S. District Judge Brian Davis will hear arguments in Jacksonville on the injunction request in the lawsuit filed by authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and a third-grade Escambia County student against the Escambia and Lake County school districts and the State Board of Education.
The lawsuit alleges First Amendment violations in removing or restricting access to the book in school libraries. In part, it seeks an injunction to require restoring the book to Escambia school library shelves.
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“And Tango Makes Three” tells the story of two male penguins who raised a penguin chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo. The lawsuit contends that the book has been targeted for “illegitimate, narrowly partisan, political reasons.”
The lawsuit also raises issues about a controversial state law that restricts instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The case is part of a wide-ranging debate in Florida about school boards restricting or removing books. Davis issued an order Tuesday scheduling the hearing.
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