“And Tango Makes Three” authors score legal victory in Florida book ban case

Public school officials in Nassau County will allow “And Tango Makes Three” — along with 35 previously removed books — back into school libraries, ending a four-month legal battle its authors and two Nassau County parents.

Nassau County school board members removed the 36 books in November 2023 after receiving complaints from the conservative advocacy group Citizens Defending Freedom.

The district removed the books without public notice or hearing, according to the settlement agreement, later claiming that three of the books, including “And Tango Makes Three,” were removed due to “lack of circulation.” The district also claimed that 33 of the books contained “obscene” material in violation of state statutes.

The district now agrees that “And Tango Makes Three” — a children’s book about a same-sex penguin couple that adopt and raise a chick — contains no obscene material and has educational value for students of all ages, according to the settlement.

While all 36 books will return to school library shelves no later than Sept. 13, some might not stay there.

Twelve books, including “Beloved” by Toni Morrison and “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, will undergo a formal district review to determine whether they violate state obscenity laws. Until that determination is made, students under 18 will require a signed parental permission form to access the books.

This time, the hearing won’t be made behind closed doors, said Lauren Zimmerman, partner at Selendy Gay, a New York-based law firm that represented the authors and parents.

“This settlement requires the review process be made in a public meeting that allows the public to weigh in,” Zimmerman said. “When you pull back the curtain, there shouldn’t be one organization or one person deciding what our children should read.”

Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” are plaintiffs in an Escambia County lawsuit alleging that public school officials unlawfully removed their book from library shelves.

In an unrelated lawsuit, a coalition of the nation’s largest book publishers filed a lawsuit last month against school board members in Orange and Volusia counties alleging that the districts violated their First Amendment rights by removing books without due process.