Florida Group Wants Charges Against Libraries That Carry ‘Porn’

Claiming that books such as The Kite Runner, the children’s book Everywhere Babies and A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo—a parody authored by a staff writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver—violate state obscenity laws, the conservative group Florida Citizens Alliance wants school libraries that make the books available to students to be criminally prosecuted, according to a report this week by the Tampa Bay Times. The so-called “Alliance” may now have the ear of Florida’s right-wing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, the paper reported. Not only do books that contain descriptions of sexuality violate Florida obscenity laws, but those that describe same-sex relationships also violate the state’s law that marriage may take place only between one man and one woman, according to the group, which has waged a years-long campaign to get what it calls “porn” off of school library shelves. Also on the list that the group has titled "Porn in Florida Public Schools,” according to a WTSP-TV report, is the book The Purim Superhero, which attempts to explain the Jewish holiday of Purim to children. The holiday is sometimes referred to as “The Jewish Halloween” due to the tradition of dressing in costume to celebrate the occasion, though the two holidays have nothing else significant in common. But according to a description of the book by the site ReformJudaism.org, the protagonist of the book, Nate, has two male parents, though the same-sex relationship is not the focus of the story. “By presenting Nate's family as a family just like any other, the book reinforces the idea that many different types of families are welcome in the Jewish community,” the site says. But the Florida Citizens Alliance apparently wants libraries that provide the book to schoolchildren to be prosecuted. "Book bans are the worst kind of censorship, particularly when they are discriminatory and veiled as 'protecting' children,” the American Civil Liberties Union’s Florida Legislative Director Kara Gross told WTSP. “LGBTQ children attend school and all children have family members, friends, neighbors, and teachers who identify as LGBTQ. Removing books from the shelves doesn't change that fact and only serves to erase the LGBTQ community, perpetuate ignorance and stereotypes, and stigmatize children and their families.” Other examples of the “porn” on the group’s list include Mommy, Mama and Me by Leslie Newman, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina García, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Photo By Joe Crawford / Wikimedia Commons