Same-Sex Penguin Couple Book Banned in Florida School District
A Florida school district is reportedly so obsessed with removing LGBTQ references from books that they have banned a book about an actual same-sex penguin couple from classrooms and school libraries.
As reported by Huffpost, the award-winning 2005 children's book "And Tango Makes Three" was removed by Florida's Lake County School District to comply with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" law.
The acclaimed book, by authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, follows the real-life partner chinstrap penguin couple — Roy and Silo — "that built a nest together at the zoo in New York's Central Park," Huffpost reports. "The birds ended up 'adopting' an orphan penguin chick (Tango) and raising it as their own."
Despite other same-sex penguin couples being discovered at the zoo, the Lake County School District is treating the story as factual information that children's don't need to know.
Last year, PEN reported that Florida's Collier County School District attached warning labels to the descriptions of over 100 books listed on the district's online library catalog. "And Tango Makes Three" was included. Physical labels were also placed on hard copies of the books.
At least 50 groups across the nation are working to ban an increasing number of books from school libraries, according to a PEN report.
Watch a little about the "And Tango Makes Three" book below.