#florida hb1069

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Major publishers sue Florida over ‘unconstitutional’ school book ban

Hundreds of titles from Judy Blume to Mark Twain purged from school libraries following rightwing challenges

Richard Luscombe at The Guardian:

Six major book publishers have teamed up to sue the US state of Florida over an “unconstitutional” law that has seen hundreds of titles purged from school libraries following rightwing challenges. The landmark action targets the “sweeping book removal provisions” of House Bill 1069, which required school districts to set up a mechanism for parents to object to anything they considered pornographic or inappropriate. A central plank of Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s war on “woke” on Florida campuses, the law has been abused by rightwing activists who quickly realized that any book they challenged had to be immediately removed and replaced only after the exhaustion of a lengthy and cumbersome review process, if at all, the publishers say. Since it went into effect last July, countless titles have been removed from elementary, middle and high school libraries, including American classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume and Stephen King have also been removed, as well as The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank’s gripping account of the Holocaust, according to the publishers. “Florida HB 1069’s complex and overbroad provisions have created chaos and turmoil across the state, resulting in thousands of historic and modern classics, works we are proud to publish, being unlawfully labeled obscene and removed from shelves,” Dan Novack, vice-president and associate general counsel of Penguin Random House (PRH), said in a statement. “Students need access to books that reflect a wide range of human experiences to learn and grow. It’s imperative for the education of our young people that teachers and librarians be allowed to use their professional expertise to match our authors’ books to the right reader at the right time in their life.” PRH is joined in the action by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks. The 94-page lawsuit, which also features as plaintiffs the Authors Guild and a number of individual writers, was filed in federal court in Orlando on Thursday.

The suit contends the book removal provisions violate previous supreme court decisions relating to reviewing works for their literary, artistic, political and scientific value as a whole while considering any potential obscenity; and seeks to restore the discretion “of trained educators to evaluate books holistically to avoid harm to students who will otherwise lose access to a wide range of viewpoints”. “Book bans censor authors’ voices, negating and silencing their lived experience and stories,” Mary Rasenberger, chief executive of the Authors Guild, said in the statement. “These bans have a chilling effect on what authors write about, and they damage authors’ reputations by creating the false notion that there is something unseemly about their books. “Yet these same books have edified young people for decades, expanding worlds and fostering self-esteem and empathy for others. We all lose out when authors’ truths are censored.” Separate from the publishers’ action, a group of three parents filed their own lawsuit in June, insisting that the law discriminated against parents who oppose book bans and censorship because it allowed others to dictate what their children can and cannot read.

Six major publishers sue Florida over book ban law HB1069.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Florida judge strikes down state law used to ban books: 'None of these books are obscene'

Judge Carlos Mendoza ruled that Florida's ban on books that "describe sexual conduct" is too broad.

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

A judge in Florida has sided with authors and publishers in a lawsuit against the state's book ban, determining that the law violates free speech protections. Judge Carlos Mendoza of the U.S. Middle District Court of Florida ruled Wednesday that "the removal of many of these books [is] unconstitutional," noting that "many are classics, modern award winners, and tested on AP exams."

"None of these books are obscene," Mendoza wrote. "The restrictions placed on these books are thus unreasonable in light of the purpose of school libraries. And if so, the presence of these books in school libraries certainly does not materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school."

The Florida state legislature passed HB 1069 in 2023, expanding the state's "Don't Say Gay" bill that prohibits discussion of LGBTQ+ identities from kindergarten to high school. The bill also required that schools remove books that contain “sexual content" — a benchmark that was disproportionately applied to materials containing themes about race, gender, or sexuality.

Penguin Random House, PEN America, the Authors Guild, and parents in the Escambia County School District filed a lawsuit against the bill, asserting that it violated the First Amendment as well as the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They were joined by five authors whose books were removed from school libraries or challenged; Sarah Brannen (Uncle Bobby’s Wedding), George Johnson (All Boys Aren’t Blue), David Levithan (Two Boys Kissing), Kyle Lukoff (When Aidan Became a Brother and Too Bright to See), and Ashley Hope Pérez(Out of Darkness).

In the Penguin Random House v. Gibson case, Florida District Judge Carlos Mendoza strikes down a big chunk of the book ban law HB1069 (aka the supersized version of the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law).

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Florida district alleges teacher who used student's nickname was grooming them to 'become gay'

The Brevard Public Schools opened an investigation of Satellite High teacher Melissa Calhoun based on allegations from a parent that the tea

Jacob Ogles at The Advocate:

A Florida teacher has lost her job after a parent accused her of grooming a child to “become gay.” The Brevard Public Schools opened an investigation of Satellite High teacher Melissa Calhoun based on allegations from a parent that the teacher referred to a child with a different name than the one given at birth. A School Board member reportedly told the principal the parent had called concerned her child was being encouraged to transition in school. "Both DeLaura Middle School and Satellite High School faculty members have been influencing and grooming her daughter to transition and to be gay,” the report reads, according to the local Fox affiliate WOFL. The parent said teachers were using a “preferred male nickname." That prompted the principal to confront Calhoun, who told the administrator she did not know the name was an issue and that she did not realize she had violated school policy. But Florida, which implemented a first-in-the-nation “don’t say gay” law forbids teachers from using preferred pronouns different from a gender assigned at birth, and requires a permission form to be signed for a teacher to use a nickname for a student. While a legal settlement over the law largely stripped provisions forbidding teachers from including sexual orientation or gender identity in instruction, a 2023 Board of Education rule still requires parental consent on alternative names.

Brevard County Public Schools teacher Melissa Calhoun lost her job due to the draconian “don’t say gay or trans” law in Florida.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Teacher loses job after unhinged mom accuses her of “grooming” her child “to be gay”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Florida high school teacher loses job for using student's preferred name

Melissa Calhoun is believed to be the first teacher to be fired for using a student's preferred name.

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

A Florida high school teacher has lost her job simply for calling a student by their chosen name. Melissa Calhoun, a teacher at Satellite High School in Brevard County, was denied a contract renewal for the 2025-2026 school year after allegedly calling a student by their preferred name without their parent's permission. She is believed to be the first fired for refusing to comply with the state's forced outing policy. District officials were notified by a parent that Calhoun had called their child by their preferred name, Brevard Public Schools Spokesperson Janet Murnaghan told FLORIDA TODAY, though they did not provide further details. Calhoun allegedly told officials that she "knowingly did not comply with state statute," and was issued a letter of reprimand. "BPS supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed," Murnaghan wrote. House Bill 1069, passed in 2023, prohibits all employees and contractors of public K-12 schools from using their preferred titles or pronouns if those “do not correspond to their sex.” For students, the state Board of Education requires that their parents sign a "Parental Authorization for Deviation from Student's Legal Name Form" before they may be called by a name or pronouns — even a nickname — different from what is in their records. The bill has been criticized for forcefully outing students — revealing their LGBTQ+ identities without their consent. LGBTQ+ minors who experience forced outing are more likely to develop depression, as well as face less support from their families, according to a study from the University of Connecticut.

Satellite High School teacher Melissa Calhoun loses her job due to respecting a student’s wish to call a student by their chosen name without parental permission, instead of that student’s legal name.

This arbitrary non-retention of Calhoun by Brevard Public Schools in Florida is why anti-LGBTQ+ forced outing policies are harmful to students and teachers.

See Also:

HuffPost: Florida High School Teacher Loses Job After Calling Student By Preferred Name

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Why thousands of Florida students are not being taught sex ed

In May 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed Florida House Bill 1069, a law that requires sex education classes in the state to con

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

In May 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed Florida House Bill 1069, a law that requires sex education classes in the state to conform to right-wing ideology. Specifically, the law requires all sex education classes to teach students that sex is binary, "either male or female," even though that is inaccurate. It also mandates that students are instructed that sex is defined exclusively by "internal and external genitalia present at birth," and these sex roles are "binary, stable, and unchangeable." This requirement erases the existence of trans and nonbinary people. Schools also must "teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school-age students" and "the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage."

To enforce these new rules and other aspects of the DeSantis administration's political agenda, HB 1069 also requires "all materials used to teach reproductive health" to be approved in advance by the Florida Department of Education (FDE) or use textbooks pre-approved by the state. Previously, sex education curricula were approved by district school boards. Florida parents can opt-out of sex education lessons on behalf of their children. 

The FDE instructed school districts to submit their materials for sex education by September 30, 2023. The school districts met the deadline, but the FDE never responded. Florida counties were placed in a no-win situation as not teaching sex education, a mandatory course, at all is a violation of state law.  Several Florida school districts — including Hillsborough, Orange and Polk Counties, three of Florida's largest — decided not to teach sex education at all during the 2023-24 school year, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Other counties, including Broward and Seminole Counties, taught sex education classes without getting the legally required approval. 

The FDE has ignored requests for comment and public records requests seeking an explanation for the delay.  Now, a new school year is underway in Florida, and the FDE still has not approved any of the submitted sex education materials — or provided any response at all. Orange County hoped to make up for last school year's missed lessons when school started this August, "but now those plans are on hold."  Schools are reluctant to use the state's pre-approved texts because they are glaringly incomplete. For example, one textbook "preaches abstinence as the only effective way to prevent STDs and pregnancy and does not mention contraception." To avoid issues, the textbook advises students to "go on group dates rather than spend one-on-one time with a partner."

Popular Information takes a deep dive into why Florida students at several school districts aren’t being taught sex ed at all, even though it is a a mandatory course.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

11th Circuit Rules Trans Teacher Must Misgender Herself In Classroom In Accordance With FL Law

The ruling by Trump-appointed judges contradicts other classroom speech cases and is a clear case of the state barring disfavored speech, ac

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

On Wednesday, Trump-appointed judges at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals released a baffling conclusion: that forcing a transgender female teacher to misgender herself in the classroom is somehow not a first amendment violation. This decision stems from a challenge to a Florida law that states it is “false to associate to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex” and bars teachers from using pronouns or honorifics that “if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to that person’s sex.” Previously, a federal district judge found that the law was a clear viewpoint discrimination on a personal identity matter for the teacher. Now, according to the dissent, the precedent means that states could control the names and pronouns all teachers use in classrooms, including things like married names and honorifics. In 2023, Florida enacted House Bill 1069, a significant expansion of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” policies. Most notably, the law prohibits teachers from using “a pronoun or personal title” that “does not correspond to such person’s sex.” This provision was enforced against transgender educators, including Ms. Wood, who would be required to go by “Mr. Wood” in the classroom—an act that violates her personal dignity—or risk losing her job.

Ms. Wood brought suit, and in 2024, a federal judge ruled that the law was egregiously discriminatory and violated her First Amendment rights by imposing a viewpoint-based speech restriction. The statute explicitly declares it “false” to use a pronoun that “doesn’t correspond to a person’s sex.” The judge found this to be a clear constitutional violation, ruling that personal titles—such as pronouns and honorifics—are a matter of individual identity, not subject to government control. As such, the law infringed upon Ms. Wood’s protected right to free expression. The 11th Circuit disagreed. In a ruling handed down by Trump-appointed judges Andrew L. Brasher and Kevin Newsom, the court determined that using one’s pronouns and title in the classroom constitutes “classroom duties” and therefore falls under the control of the state.

Judge Adalberto Jordan, an Obama appointee, issued a scathing dissent. “The statute at issue here, § 1000.071(3), has nothing to do with curriculum and everything to do with Florida attempting to silence those with whom it disagrees on the matter of transgender identity and status. Florida cannot justify its viewpoint discrimination by relying on the very reason that such discrimination is constitutionally suspect—that it gets to decide what speech is permissible (the speech it likes) and what speech is prohibited (the speech it disagrees with).”

[...] The case now returns to the district court, but in the meanwhile, transgender teachers in Florida are forced to misgender themselves in their own classrooms—a direct assault on their basic dignity and identity. The ruling marks yet another escalation in Florida’s increasingly authoritarian campaign against transgender people. In a country that claims to value free speech and personal liberty, this ruling lays bare just how conditional those rights have become when it comes to transgender people.

A 3-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court issued a ruling in Wood v. Florida Department of Education 2-1 that teacher Katie Wood must misgender herself as "Mr. Wood" in the classroom in order to comply with Florida's Super-Sized version of its Don't Say Gay or Trans law HB1069.

See Also:

The Advocate: Appeals court rules transgender Florida teacher cannot use female pronouns in school

[justinspoliticalcorner]

New Florida sex education curriculum excludes almost all information about sex

A new middle school sex education curriculum in Orange County, Florida, obtained by Popular Information, eliminates previous lessons on the

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

A new middle school sex education curriculum in Orange County, Florida, obtained by Popular Information, eliminates previous lessons on the reproductive system, contraception, and consent. What remains is a discussion of the benefits of abstinence and a cursory review of various sexually transmitted diseases. Orange County's new curriculum, provided to Popular Information by the Florida Freedom to Read Project, was recently approved by the Florida Department of Education. That approval was required as part of a law, HB 1069, signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in May 2023. The law requires schools to “teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school-age students.”

The new Orange County 8th grade sex education curriculum, for example, emphasizes that abstinence is the only 100% effective method to prevent sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. The same information was included in Orange County's previous 8th grade sex education curriculum, taught in prior years, and submitted to the Florida Department of Education for the 2023-24 school year, but never approved. A very large amount of material has been removed from the sex education curriculum. The 8th grade sex education curriculum submitted last year but not approved is 230 pages. The new, approved version is 36 pages. (You can review both documents in full at the end of this story.)

Eliminating this information was not required by the new law. Rather, the law requires the Department of Education to approve sex education materials as "appropriate for the grade and age of the student." According to the Orlando Sentinel, Department of Education officials told educators in Broward County, Florida, that “[p]ictures of external sexual/reproductive anatomy” should not be included in “any grade level.” Officials in Orange County appear to have received similar instructions. A Florida Department of Education spokesperson defended the new restrictions, telling the AP, “A state government should not be emphasizing or encouraging sexual activity among children or minors and is therefore right to emphasize abstinence.” The old 8th grade sex education curriculum in Orange County, while promoting abstinence, acknowledged that some students are sexually active. It provided information on how to prevent unintended pregnancy and protect against STDs if students engaged in sexual activity. This information has been deleted from the new curriculum.

What is Sex Education without sex like? A new Florida sex ed curriculum with Moms For Liberty’s imprints all over it.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Challengers score a win in fight against Florida's anti-trans classroom pronoun ban

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker allows sex discrimination claims after the Justice Department weighed in to back the teachers who sued. Also

Chris Geidner at Law Dork:

A federal judge rejected Florida’s request to dismiss sex discrimination claims in a lawsuit against the state’s ban on teachers using the pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity. In a brief order on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker denied motions from the state and other defendants to dismiss sex discrimination claims raised in the lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Under the anti-transgender law, teachers in the state can only use the pronouns associated with their biological sex assigned at birth in the classroom — or risk discipline that can include suspension or even licensure revocation.

Walker issued a preliminary injunction in April against enforcement of the ban as to Katie Wood, one of the teachers who sued, under a free speech claim, writing, “Once again, the State of Florida has a First Amendment problem. Of late, it has happened so frequently, some might say you can set your clock by it.” Wednesday’s ruling expanded which claims will be allowed to go to trial. Walker, an Obama appointee, initially allowed parts of the lawsuit to proceed as to free speech and equal protection claims, as well as a preemption claim, but agreed with the state in the April 19 order that the challengers — three current or former teachers — did not show that the pronoun ban constituted a “term or condition” of employment that could justify the sex discrimination Title VII or Title IX claims.

In a somewhat unusual moment for a federal judge, however, Walker on Wednesday reversed course — acknowledging that he got that latter part wrong the first time. After dismissing the sex discrimination claims, the parties filed a second amended complaint to provide more information to Walker backing those claims. Additionally, the Justice Department weighed in, with a “Statement of Interest” setting forth the position of the United States on the matter — and backing the teachers’ Title VII claims. “The mandatory nature of the title/pronoun policies and the consequences for non-compliance make clear that the policies are a term or condition of Plaintiffs’ employment,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote in the statement. In response, Walker on Wednesday changed course.

[...] In response, Walker on Wednesday changed course. “[U]pon review of the second amended complaint and the briefing — particularly the thoughtful analysis from the United States of America — this Court concludes that it erred when it previously held that Plaintiffs failed to sufficiently allege that the challenged pronoun policy discriminates with respect to Plaintiffs’ terms, conditions, or privileges of employment,“ he wrote. Additionally, he further detailed the effect of a U.S. Supreme Court decision from this term, Muldrow v. St. Louis, which was issued April 17 and set forth standards for determining the “terms [or] conditions” requirement under Title VII, beyond his consideration of it in the earlier ruling. Specifically, Walker wrote, ”This Court’s incorrect analysis relied on case law that is no longer good law following” the Muldrow decision.1

Challengers score a big win on the fight against Florida’s forced misgendering law HB1069 in Wood v. Florida Department of Education that bans the usage of pronouns congruent with their gender identity instead of the gender assigned at birth.

See Also:

CBS News Miami: Challenge to Florida teacher pronoun law gets go-ahead