Growing up, Alex Gino felt they were not positively represented in the media, if at all.
Now, the genderqueer author is taking a stand against the Alachua County School Board, trying to keep their book, "Melissa", from being banned.
“The thing I keep trying to remember is my book would not have been banned 20 years ago, because my book never would have been published 20 years ago,” Gino said. “Who would I be now if I did not have all those scars of just unawareness?”
As Alachua County citizens debate the restrictions of certain books in the school system, the rub has shed light on the balance between protecting students and fostering a diverse community.
On May 17th, 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a bill restricting instructional content on reproductive health and human sexuality in public schools. Depending on the law, penalties on teachers can include loss of teaching certification, fines or even criminal charges.
The list of challenged books, compiled by the Alachua County School Board, includes titles that span many genres and topics.
Dr. Crystal Marull, a University of Florida professor and UF online Spanish program coordinator, has requested 15 books to be reviewed by the board. Only one book challenged by Marull has been removed on the district level. Marull declined to comment when contacted by WUFT.
Florida Sen. Keith Perry, who represents the 9th district, also requested a book to be added on the list of challenged material. Perry did not respond to a request by WUFT for an interview.
Critics of the ban argue that restrictions not only stifle intellectual curiosity but also infringe upon academic freedom.
“It is a dig to my heart every time someone questions whether a young person should get to see a reflection of who is in the world. The way to know about trans people as an adult is to grow up in a world in which you are aware of trans people,” Gino said.
The first two challenged books to be completely removed from all school and classroom libraries in Alachua County public schools are “The Sun and Her Flowers” by Rupi Kaur and “Haunted” by Chuck Palahnuik. They were removed for including “inappropriate sexual content”, effective April 4.
The challenger of these books, and eight others, is Olivia Louise Haley, 21, a University of Florida student. She says she became involved in the process because of Marull’s efforts and because she, too, is concerned.
“The specific issue I have is the graphic sexual content these books have for children who cannot mentally and emotionally comprehend it. I am all for teaching children hard subjects about life, but this can be done without graphic sexual details for minors,” Haley said.
While Haley does not have children in the school system, she believes children should be encouraged to read different kinds of literature if it is appropriate.
“The content in them was disgusting,” said Haley, who is a third-year economics major. “I could not believe anyone would allow this to be available to children.”
According to Sarah Rockwell, District 3 representative of the Alachua County School Board, there are methods for parents and the community to restrict what books are being shown to their children. Ultimately, parents wanting to restrict content for their children can go directly to the school (to limit the content just for their child) or the district (to get the material banned for all area schools).
“If it's sexually explicit material, it's restricted from every student in the county. It cannot be available to any students in any school in our district,” Rockwall said.
On the school level, Alachua County teachers and school media specialists created an online catalog of what books are currently available to students. Individual parents can restrict what their children have access to by emailing teachers or filling out a form submitted to the school.
On the district level, any resident of the county can challenge a book. If challenged, that book is then sent to the Florida Department of Education’s district-level review committee. The committee then makes a recommendation to the Alachua County School Board with their findings.
If the recommendation makes it to the board, the board will vote to agree or disagree on the challenge. If the final decision is upheld and the book is found to violate the state statute on what is considered sexually explicit material, then that book is restricted for every student in the county.
If the challenge does not surpass the district-level review, the challenger can elect for the book to be reviewed by a hearing officer. The challenger must present evidence to the hearing officer who will then determine if it will progress to the school board.
Diyonne McGraw, the District 2 representative of the Alachua County School Board, works alongside Rockwall and advocates for students to have access to books that are not deemed inappropriate.
“I don't think a parent has the right to ban all books. That's why I think it's a fair process, because they're able to complete that form and make sure their child does not have access to that particular,” McGraw said.
Rockwall is a parent and a school board member. She said she holds high ideals for her community and looks to do what is best for all.
“My personal belief is that most of this legislation was completely unnecessary and gives an individual parent too much power over other people's children and what they have access to,” Rockwall said. “But as a public official, I took an oath to uphold our state constitution and statutes. If a book comes before me that violates the law, I will uphold the law.”
Rockwall said the community had concerns about revised procedures of school-level reviews. In December of 2023, the Alachua County School Board removed school-level reviews and instead redirected all reviews to the district level. The ACPS Challenge Procedures were changed so members of the public could address publicly elected officials instead of school employees.
“The removal of the school level reviews was not an effort to make it easier to remove a book. It was an effort to remove some of the burden from our school level teachers and media specialists,” Rockwall said.
Patty Duval, the district media specialist for Alachua County Public Schools, is one of the five members of the review committee for each book challenge. The committee consists of the director of curriculum, the supervisor of student services, a representative of the content area specialist and a parent whose child has access to the content.
Duval facilitates each meeting and presents the objection to the committee.
“We believe that every book on our shelves belongs there and should stay there,” said Duval, “but if it does not comply with the statute, we will remove the book from our shelves.”
Rockwall also pushed for a revised LGBTQ+ support guide to aid teachers in classrooms for teachers to better understand what they are legally allowed to say and do in their classrooms.
“For instance, it makes it clear that teachers can have pictures of their families on their desks regardless of their sexual orientation, that GSA [gender and sexuality alliance] clubs are allowed, that teachers must use a student’s nickname at parent request and can (but aren’t required) to use parent-requested pronouns,” Rockwell said.
The district staff pulled down the guide over concerns that it was not in compliance with the new legislation. Rockwall said she believed there was never an intention to update it, but she and community advocates made sure it was updated so teachers would have concise guidance on what the laws mean for the classroom.
“I think one of the most difficult things for teachers has been that the laws are often written in confusing or vague ways, and a lack of understanding of what they really mean can lead to fear-based decision-making that goes beyond what the law requires,” Rockwell said.
To address community concerns, the Alachua County School Board holds open, and regular, meetings. The most recent discussion took place on April 11 at 4pm.
“They're always going to need allies, so we need to speak. Speak up on their behalf,” said Elizabeth Husband, a retired elementary school counselor and a board member of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
“We wish that the public that is opposed to banning books or those that are not opposed to it came to see how this process works and to see the steps that we take to make sure that we're in compliance with the statutory requirements,” said Duval.
For author Alex Gino, their book “Melissa” was challenged and made its way up to the Alachua County School Board hearing level. On January 23rd, 2024, the final order for “Melissa” was made, allowing it to remain on the shelves.