Hillsborough School Board To Host Special Called Meeting To Discuss Book Ban Request

TAMPA, FL — After a request to remove a book was denied twice, the Hillsborough County School Board will hold a special called school board meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday to review a challenge to the book, "This Book is Gay," now available on the shelves of the Pierce Middle School media center.

The school board will make a final decision whether to allow the book to remain on school library shelves based on a report from the Pierce Middle School Educational Media Materials Committee and the District Level Reconsideration Appeals Committee. The meeting will be held in the board auditorium at 901 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa.

Parent Stephanie Ascroft, who does not have a child at Pierce Middle School but does have a kindergarten student in a Hillsborough County public school, filed a challenge to the nonfiction book written by New York Times bestselling author Juno Dawson.

The Parental Rights in Education bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March 2022 gives parents the right to challenge whether a book in a school media center or instructional materials in the classroom are appropriate. The measure allows parents to review a school district's instructional materials and library books, and file objections if they believe the subject matter violates state standards.

Following up on that law, House Bill 1069, approved by the Florida Legislature last week, places further restrictions on materials in classrooms and media centers, and better defines the guidelines for school districts to process objections.

The bill allows anyone in the school district to object to any material in the classroom or school library or on a reading list that depicts or describes any sexual conduct, even if it is not pornographic, if it is not for a health course.

"This Book is Gay" is among a number of books that would be eligible for removal from school library shelves if the bill is approved, said the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Dawson, who has written several books dealing with LGBTQ issues, said she wrote "This Book is Gay" in 2015 as a way to help young people who are beginning to explore their sexuality understand what's happening to them and how they can navigate the bumps in the road on their way to sexual maturity.

"Lesbian. Bisexual. Queer. Transgender. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference," said Dawson in the official preview of the book posted on Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes & Noble websites. "There's a long-running joke that, after 'coming out,' a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. This is that instructional manual. Inside you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more."

Dawson describes the book as a "candid, funny and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ."

But Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, has another description of Dawson's book: "Obscene."

On Feb. 3, Renner requested records from Hillsborough County Schools on the reading materials available in school libraries after learning about the challenge to Dawson's book.

“The request seeks to understand the decision-making processes for allowing such materials to be made available to young children and how school officials address parental objections,” Renner said in a statement.

While he said the majority of reading and educational materials in school libraries are age-appropriate, "some books are so clearly obscene and directed to children that they would be rejected by adult bookstores.”

Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Addison Davis said, after the challenge was lodged the book was reviewed by the Pierce Middle School Educational Media Materials Committee which chose to keep the book on the media center's shelves.

When Ascroft lodged another challenge, the book was reviewed by the District Level Reconsideration Appeals Committee, which again approved the book for middle-schoolers.

After that, if the parent continues to challenge the book, it goes before the school board, as is the case at tomorrow's special called school board meeting.

“We respect the concerns of our elected officials and community members," said Davis in a statement. "Our district works to ensure we have age-appropriate content in our schools."

He said there are procedures in place to remove a book, and those procedures are being followed to evaluate Dawson's book.

"Based on policy, the superintendent does not have the ability to pull a book unilaterally without following district policies and procedures," he said.

Following publicity surrounding her book, Dawson said she has received death threats, and now she's fighting back, urging educators, librarians, free speech advocates and the LGBTQ community to attend Tuesday's meeting and "stand up to those who want to ban books."

A former teacher, Dawson said she wrote the book to provide adolescents who are questioning their sexuality or realizing that they are gay factual answers to their questions, answers they couldn't get from their parents who might not understand what they're experiencing.

"I felt that, as a former teacher, that sex education for LGBTQ students wasn't very good," she said in a post on Instagram Saturday. "They weren't really learning anything that they needed to keep them safe and healthy when they were in adult relationships."

She said that anyone seeing the title will clearly grasp that the book contains sexual content.

"Yes, it's about relationships, falling in love, dating, family. It's about all those things," she said. "I wanted to give young LGBTQ people hope. What we're seeing now is a really an organized attack on the book because the far right is out of ideas."

As for the book's contents, Dawson said,"It has a warning on the back. It’s aimed at teenagers. It says it’s honestly explicit in places."

Tampa resident Carmen Alvarez is among those supporting Dawson. She's gone on Twitter, calling on educators, librarians, free speech advocates and the LGBTQ community to speak out at Tuesday's Hillsborough School Board meeting, and has included information on how residents can get involved in the discussion.