Leon County schools removes ‘sexually explicit’ material after pressure from Moms for Liberty

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Leon County Schools announced on July 10 that they removed five books containing sexually explicit material after members of Leon’s Moms for Liberty chapter made the request.

The books that were removed from school libraries were Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk, Dead End by Jason Myer, Lucky by Alice Sebold, Push by Sapphire, and Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews.

Moms for Liberty highlighted in a letter to the school board that all of the books listed contain vulgar, sexual connotations and detailed descriptions of rape. Due to the explicit material, they argued the presence of the books in schools directly violates Florida law.

“School libraries should be places of inspiration, growth, and wonder,” the organization said in their letter. “Parents have traditionally trusted school media specialists to provide a broad selection of age-appropriate, enriching materials while using discernment to exclude harmful content.”

“A full review of library materials should be undertaken to ensure that children are not exposed to harmful content in Leon County Schools,” they added, volunteering themselves to participate in the material review committee.

Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna responded to the push by Moms for Liberty by confirming that the books had been taken off the library shelves, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

“I reviewed them personally and they have been removed,” he said. “Of these 468,000-plus books that we have in our current catalog, if we come across those we deem are in violation of state statute, we will remove them immediately… These are black-and-white, cut-and-dry, need-to-be removed.”

Following the decision, Moms for Liberty came out with a response, thanking the county for the actions that were taken to handle the material.

“We are pleased that the Leon County School Board recognized the inappropriate nature of the five books cited,” they said. “It is the job of school librarians to curate their collections for age-appropriateness.”

“Until recently, everyone agreed that adults should not provide harmful or sexually explicit materials to other people’s children,” they continued. “ And now that some school librarians are crossing that line, parents are speaking up.”