A lawsuit can move forward against a Florida Panhandle school district over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities from library shelves, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, based in Pensacola, ruled that the writers’ group PEN America, publisher Penguin Random House, banned authors and parents have standing to pursue their claims under the First Amendment’s free speech protections, while denying a claim under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
“We are gratified that the Judge recognized that books cannot be removed from school library shelves simply because of the views they espouse, and are looking forward to moving forward with this case to protect the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs,” attorney Lynn Oberlander said in a statement.
The federal lawsuit alleges the Escambia County School District and its School Board are violating the First Amendment through the removal of 10 books.
LGBT people never got federal discrimination protection, and I doubt the florida reich has any laws. people did a victory lap when we got gay marriage despite that being just one of many, many struggles
Title IX (federal) protects students from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.