The Orlando Sentinel published a two-page print spread Thursday listing 673 books that have been removed from classrooms in Orange County in 2023 due to fears they violate the state’s new laws banning “sexual conduct” from public schools.
Teachers with any of the 673 books on their classroom shelves have been instructed by the school district to remove them, the newspaper said, also noting that the Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) staff will review the list of rejected books once again, so it’s possible the books will eventually be returned to the classroom. The district began compiling the list over the summer.
The list stems from two Florida laws signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis ®, who is also running for president. They require media specialists to review books in libraries and classrooms, and to exclude books that include sexually lewd material or pornography. The legislation also aims to give parents greater ability to raise objections to their children’s education.
Pornography - ie images designed to arouse sexual desire - is not the same as the discussion or even depiction of sex in every regard.
You can read something like “It takes some couples up to two years of trying to conceive to get pregnant” without becoming aroused.
Same as you can look at a picture of how the testes connects to the urethra without getting a boner.
However, you can look at a fully clothed person in a sexy outfit (eg pin up girl) and know it is pornography - even if extremely softcore and mild.
It is for the most part a deliberate red herring to discus pornography being displayed in schools because, even if the material is describing accurately the process of sex, even within a narrative, it is likely, if aimed at young adults, more designed to answer common questions and show representation than it is to stoke their lust.
Any attempt to classify pornography is instantly met with Diogenes’ plucked chicken: Behold — a porno!