HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, the Hillsborough County School Board voted to remove the book, "This Book is Gay," from all middle schools in Hillsborough County.
The book has caused debate from parents who believe it’s not age appropriate.
“Two and a half years ago, my daughter came home and asked me to purchase a certain book for her,” said Julie Gebhards.
That’s when Gebhards told ABC Action News she started looking more closely into the books available to students in Hillsborough County Schools and found multiple that were inappropriate, in her opinion.
Gebhards ultimately decided to take her children out of school and home-school them instead.
“Here in Hillsborough County, I think we have a deep swamp of books that need to be looked at,” she said.
During Tuesday's special-called school board meeting, the book in question was "This Book is Gay" by Juno Dawson. The book was challenged at Pierce Middle School.
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ABC Action News obtained a copy of the book. It stated it’s a candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBTQIA+.
Chapters in the book include “Coming Out” and “The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex.”
Some parents, like Gebhards, have taken issue with the book. She was one of the parents who filed a request with the school district to challenge it.
A school-based committee decided to keep the book in the school's library, and after an appeal, a district-level committee upheld that decision. After another appeal, the school board was tasked with giving final input.
"Even on our own website, it says it's for grades 10 to 12," said school board member Stacy Hahn. "And yet this in now in a library with 11 and 12 and 13 and maybe some 14-year-olds."
"Every step of the way, the author has gone into great detail to make sure that they're trying to make safe any information that our students might stumble upon without any prior knowledge to it," said Jessica Vaughn, a school board member.
On Tuesday, Hillsborough school board members ultimately voted to remove the book from all middle schools in Hillsborough County.
“Our job is to make sure we protect children and to educate children, and at the same token, make certain that age-appropriate material is in front of them every single day, and that’s what we’re continuing to do in Hillsborough County," said Superintendent Addison Davis.
Naydeli Laffita is a senior at Leto High School and a part of the LGBTQ community.
“What went through my mind at first was just my experience and what I felt as a middle schooler not having that book, and I feel like if I did have that book, it would’ve helped me in many ways," said Laffita.
Dozens of people spoke at the meeting on both sides of the debate. Debbie Hunt was there too.
“I think that the message came across loud and clear because the book is clearly pornographic. It clearly has obscene language all through it, which is in violation of the law," said Hunt. "Is this about the LGBTQ community? Absolutely not. This is about if it were any book with that language in it, it needs to be removed.”
According to the school district, at Pierce, there were two copies: one is checked out and has not been returned, and the other one is missing and will be documented as lost at the end of the year during inventory.
The district said the only other school that has this book is Tampa Bay Tech High School. They have one copy.
Advocates of academic freedom believe book banning is becoming more prevalent.
“It is very clear that Florida is becoming the leading edge of this,” said Jonathan Friedman, Director of Free Expression and Education Programs at PEN America.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that you want to have a conversation about a book that’s in a school. I think what’s happening that is problematic is that those conversations aren’t happening, and instead, we have a situation where a single complaint just leads to a book being removed for everybody. Is there a reason to object to a certain book being in a middle school or a high school? Sure, but I think it’s important that people who make those decisions recognize the stakes of those decisions when they make them that sometimes it is only in a public school that someone can get access to a book. Or sometimes it is a book that saves somebody’s life as they’re grappling with their own identity,” he added.
Friedman told ABC Action News he thinks there’s more than one perspective to consider when it comes to this book in question.
“When I spoke with Juno Dawson, who is the author of This Book is Gay, he said to me is what we have to understand is that banning these books isn’t going to stop a single LGBTQ person from being who they are. Instead, it’s just going to leave that person less well-informed and more vulnerable,” said Friedman.
