“Over the past year, parents have used their rights to object to pornographic and sexually explicit material they found in school libraries,” Gov. DeSantis said.
“We also know that some people have abused this process in an effort to score cheap political points. Today, I am calling on the Legislature to make necessary adjustments so that we can prevent abuses in the objection process and ensure that districts aren’t overwhelmed by frivolous challenges.”
- He directed Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, whom he appointed, to “prohibit bad actors in school leadership positions from intentionally depriving students of an education by politicizing the book review process.”
- DeSantis also asked the legislature to pass legislation to limit “bad-faith objections made by those who don’t have children learning in Florida.”
PEN America Responds
On “Real News with Rick Outzen,” PEN America Florida director Katie Blankenship debunks DeSantis’ debunking.
“I think this press conference was an interesting tactic by the governor, but I think the real motivation is pretty clear,” Blankenship said. “They know that this book banning has gone too far.”
She wasn’t surprised that the governor and his education commissioner didn’t take responsibility for the chaos they created.
“The real message that’s coming from Governor DeSantis and Manny Diaz, no matter all the gaslighting and smoke and mirrors, is they see that these policies of censorship that they’ve started aren’t working, and Floridians don’t like them.”
Listen to podcast – The Book Ban Hoax Hoax