As part of his mission to debunk the “book ban lie”, Governor Ron DeSantis spoke in Tampa on Wednesday, saying it was a nasty hoax perpetrated by the left.
The governor addressed the assembly, citing specific instances of material declared obscene.
At the beginning of the press conference, a five-minute film was shown that included novels like “Flamer” and “Gender Queer” which contain pornographically explicit material and can be found in schools throughout Florida.
After parents’ complaints, many of these books were taken off the shelves. DeSantis and his education commissioner said the state is not banning books. Anyone could get the books; it’s just that the school wouldn’t provide them.
Parents, according to DeSantis, “should not have to worry about this crap being in the classrooms” while sending their children there.
According to Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr., removing blatant examples of pornography, frequently easily accessible to our youngest kids, is not book banning.
Local school boards are responsible for establishing what is suitable for Florida schools. The legislation established last year mandates that experts read and comment on all published works. A parent has the right to raise an objection.
The Department of Energy reports that 175 books have been taken from Florida classrooms. Over half of the books were judged to be free of sexual content, while 151were deemed to be the worst offenders.
Diaz added that even if it’s a cartoon, if it’s pornography, it’s not suitable for children to view.
Miami Democrat state senator Shevrin Jones said that reasonable people could agree which books are too pornographic for children. However, he further claims that several works of significance to the African American community have been removed from circulation.
There is an impending deadline that school systems must meet. By June 30th, they must provide a list to the Department of Education detailing all books that have been taken out of circulation.
