LGBTQ-themed books were among the many books removed from Florida’s public school libraries last year, but that was not the focus of media headlines. Instead, the media emphasized the notion that removing inappropriate books from school libraries was an act of censorship, which is untrue.
For example, Clay County removed a LGBTQ-themed book entitled, “A Complicated Love Story Set in Space” by author Shaun David Hutchinson, which is about a teenage LGBTQ love story in space.
Another example is in Escambia County, the county removed the LGBTQ-themed book, “All Boys Aren’t Blue” from school libraries. The book is a young adult book about being black and queer.
The leading county for book removals was Clay County with 177. The second-most book removals was in Martin County with 98 removals. In total, about 300 books were removed from school libraries.
NBC Miami reported the news about the list of books removed from public school libraries in the Sunshine State.
But the news outlet omitted the point that just because books were removed from school libraries, parents and children could also find these books at their local libraries or purchase them at a local bookstore or online. It is not censorship (which is the media narrative) if the books can be found elsewhere. Censorship is when a book is removed from all potential sources and whose sales are restricted, as in the case of several conservative books in recent history.
