A dispute over the removal of the ‘And Tango Makes Three’ book from a Florida school district’s libraries is sent to mediation

Share
banned books, First Amendment
Banned books. Displayed at The Hive St. Pete. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News (Aug. 2023)

©2024 The News Service of Florida

A federal judge this week sent to mediation a lawsuit about the removal of the children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” from Escambia County school library shelves — while also scheduling a trial in 2025.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor issued an order Tuesday, after ruling last month that two authors and a student could pursue First Amendment claims against the Escambia County School Board.

The school board had sought dismissal of allegations by the book’s co-authors, Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, and a student identified by the initials B.G.

But Winsor refused to dismiss claims that the board violated the authors’ right to freedom of expression and the student’s right to receive information by removing the book.

Tuesday’s order required mediation to try to resolve the dispute, but Winsor also scheduled a March 4, 2025, trial date.

“And Tango Makes Three” tells the story of two male penguins who raised a penguin chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo.

The lawsuit contends that the book was targeted for “illegitimate, narrowly partisan, political reasons,” as it depicts same-sex parents raising a child.

The case has played out amid controversy in Florida and other states about school officials removing or restricting access to books.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Talking Animals: Fort Lauderdale pet detective recounts her career path, some notable cases, unveils app she Created to find missing pets

Jamie Katz recalls her initial efforts helping animals while regularly...

A ‘fab lab’ in a Tampa mall inspires all generations to use science & art to create

Listen: Behind one storefront at Tampa’s University Mall, you won’t...

The Scoop: Thur. May 29, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

WMNF headlines including Florida hurricane season, federal support, Pinellas town...

University of Florida
The Florida higher ed Board of Governors will consider UF’s pick for president, Santa Ono

Santa Ono has been picked as president of the University...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Down n Dirty
Down n Dirty