Six Florida students, their parents, and two authors sued a central Florida school district Tuesday for banning some students’ access to a children’s book about two male penguins who raise a baby penguin together.
Last year, the school board in Lake County, near Orlando, barred students who are in kindergarten through third grade from accessing “And Tango Makes Three,” a 2005 book based on a true story about two male penguins at New York City’s Central Park Zoo who adopted and raised an orphaned penguin chick named Tango. The district said at the time that its decision was based on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law. Last month, DeSantis signed a bill that expands this law. The new measure prohibits sexual orientation or gender identity instruction in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Tuesday’s lawsuit argues that the law is “vague and overbroad” and that the district, by restricting access to “And Tango Makes Three,” violated the First Amendment. The authors, Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, and six students ages 5 to 12 joined the lawsuit through their parents or legal guardians because they’re interested in reading the book for a variety of reasons. #Queer Up Breaking News