Polk County Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid has removed 16 books from Polk County Middle and High Schools due to complaints from an alt right fringe group County Citizens Defending Freedom who claim that these books violate Florida Statute 847.012. PCSB states that these books “have not been censored or banned” but at the same time have physically removed the books from circulation at Polk County Schools so that students cannot access them with no definitive end date given on when the books will be returned which by definition is a form of censorship and is basically at its heart a ban of these books in all but name.

All of the titles listed deal with LGBTQ characters or issues, sex and sexuality, critical race theory, race, racial inequities, gender and non-traditional family structures and as such have been targeted by proto-fascists groups specifically to limit students access to these materials in the name of “freedom”. These actions are reprehensible and Polk DSA is committed to ensuring that both students and adults have free access to these books and any others that may be targeted in the future. Information should not be gate kept and students should not be made to feel as though their lived experiences are not represented in their public schools.