A picture book about the beloved late actor Betty White has been banned in the Escambia County Public Schools district in Florida for featuring a character with two dads. The book was challenged for being “content and age inappropriate” under Florida’s Parental Rights in Education plan, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which restricts the instruction of gender identity and sexuality in public schools.
The Florida Freedom to Read Project, a collective of Florida citizens fighting book bans in the state, announced the news and identified the individual who proposed the ban as Florida teacher Vicki Baggett. According to the organization, Baggett objected to two pages in the book “where a character references his two dads” and claimed that the book had an “agenda” that violated parental rights.
The late Betty White was a well-known LGBTQ+ rights activist, and the news of the book ban prompted many to condemn the district’s and Baggett’s actions as homophobic. White once famously said that anti-LGBTQ+ people should learn how to mind their own business and not worry about other people so much.
This isn’t the first time Baggett has backed book bans in Florida. Earlier this year, she called for nearly 150 books to be banned in the state, claiming it was her “responsibility to protect minors.” However, former students have accused Baggett of making openly bigoted comments and exhibiting homophobic behavior. They claim that Baggett regularly expressed homophobic beliefs in class and even told a student whose sister had a girlfriend that she was “faking being a lesbian for attention.”
Baggett’s crusade against books with LGBTQ+ themes is also well-documented. She opposes the inclusion of And Tango Makes Three, a book about two male penguins who create a family together, in school libraries because she believes it promotes the “LGBTQ agenda.” Baggett’s actions have been met with pushback from those who believe that book bans have no place in a democratic society.
The banning of the Betty White picture book is just one example of the ongoing battle over book bans in the United States. As advocates for intellectual freedom continue to fight against censorship and discrimination, it remains to be seen how this issue will be resolved in the years to come.