Florida AG: Schools Have The Right To Remove LGBTQ Books Since It’s “Government Speech, Not Free Speech”

The Tallahassee Democrat reports:

Florida’s government is arguing that school districts have a First Amendment right to remove LGBTQ books. Or any book, for that matter. It’s a contention that First Amendment experts and advocates call extreme and chilling. But the state maintains the books on school shelves represent protected government speech. Public school libraries are “a forum for government speech,” it says, not a “forum for free expression.”

“Public-school systems, including their libraries, convey the government’s message,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody wrote in a legal brief. A pair of lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida over the removal of books in both of their school libraries. Notable among those is “And Tango Makes Three,” its authors being plaintiffs.

Read the full article.

“…the state maintains the books on school shelves represent protected government speech. Public school libraries are “a forum for government speech,” it says, not a “forum for free expression.”

Quite an argument for the “free” state to make in court. https://t.co/ccnEcw3FKC

— Florida Freedom to Read Project (@FLFreedomRead) December 4, 2023

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