A federal judge has ruled that a Florida school board did not violate the First Amendment when it removed a children’s book featuring two male penguins raising a chick in a victory for officials who argue they have the authority to keep LGBTQ-themed material out of school libraries.
Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor ruled on September 30 that the Escambia County School Board acted within its rights when it removed the book And Tango Makes Three from its library shelves. The 2005 book tells the true story of two male penguins at New York’s Central Park Zoo who hatch and raise a chick together and has long been at the center of debates over LGBTQ representation in schools.