Zoekresultaten: florida

  • Publishers win lawsuit against controversial book ban in Florida

    Marc Dirix

    A federal judge ruled last Friday that Florida’s HB2019 law, which allowed parents to remove books with alleged sexual content from school libraries and classrooms, was overly broad and unconstitutional.
    “Historically, librarians curate their collections based on professional judgment, not by orders from above,” the judge stated. “There are also indications that the law swept up far more non-obscene books than just the titles mentioned here.”

    The law was also used to remove, in addition to titles such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Richard Wright’s Native Son, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, books with LGBTQ themes from school libraries.

    Last year alone, some 4,500 books were pulled from various school libraries. Under the 2023 law, Florida schools could be pressured to remove books deemed “inappropriate” or “too pornographic” by parents. In the Collier County School District, more than 350 books were removed under HB1069, including If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo and Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett. Other well-known LGBTQ+ titles, such as And Tango Makes Three, I Am Jazz, and Jacob’s New Dress, were also banned across multiple Florida districts due to the law’s vague wording. According to research by PEN America, 39% of the books removed in more than one district were LGBTQ-related.

    Several major publishers, including Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishing, and Simon & Schuster, joined with a number of authors to challenge the law in court. The judge’s ruling emphasized that schools must rely on a U.S. Supreme Court precedent: whether the average person would find the work as a whole sexually arousing; whether it depicts sexual content in an offensive manner; and whether the work lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

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  • Florida Subpoenas Restaurant Over Drag Show Guests

    Marc Dirix

    The public prosecutor of the U.S. state of Florida has ordered a popular restaurant in Vero Beach to identify all attendees of its drag shows.

    Last month, The Kilted Mermaid restaurant hosted a drag performance to celebrate Pride Month. According to Florida’s Attorney General, James Uthmeier, “adult, sexualized performers” performed in the presence of children.
    In May, a federal court ruled that a 2023 law banning drag shows in Florida may be unconstitutional. The law, supported by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, aimed to punish venues that allow children to attend “adult live performances.” While drag shows were not explicitly mentioned, the sponsor of the legislation stated that such performances were indeed the target. Under the law, establishments could have their liquor licenses revoked. The court temporarily blocked the law after a local restaurant that hosted drag shows filed a legal challenge, arguing the measure violated free speech rights.

     

    That suspension did not stop Uthmeier from issuing a subpoena to The Kilted Mermaid. The subpoena, issued earlier this month, requests copies of guest lists, reservation records, surveillance footage, and contracts identifying performers. The prosecutor announced the action in a press release, which was filled with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and attacked the tens of thousands of people who have attended drag events in the state: “In Florida, we don’t sacrifice the innocence of children for the perversions of some demented adults.”

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  • Florida dagvaardt restaurant om bezoekers dragshow te identificeren

    Marc Dirix

    De openbare aanklager van de Amerikaanse staat Florida heeft een populair restaurant in Vero Beach bevolen om alle aanwezigen tijdens dragshows te identificeren.

    Vorige maand organiseerde het populaire restaurant The Kilted Mermaid, ter gelegenheid van de Pride-maand, een dragshow. Volgens de procureur-generaal van de staat Florida, James Uthmeier, traden er in aanwezigheid van kinderen “volwassen, geseksualiseerde artiesten” op.
    In mei oordeelde een federale rechtbank dat een in 2023 goedgekeurde wet die dragshows in Florida verbiedt, mogelijk ongrondwettelijk is. De met steun van de Republikeinse gouverneur Ron DeSantis goedgekeurde wet wil locaties bestraffen die kinderen toelaten tot “livevoorstellingen voor volwassenen”. Hoewel dragshows niet expliciet worden genoemd, gaf de initiatiefnemer van de wet aan dat die optredens wel degelijk het doelwit zijn. Volgens de wet kon de drankvergunning van betrokken horecazaken worden ingetrokken. De federale rechtbank schortte de wet voorlopig op, nadat een lokaal restaurant dat dragshows organiseerde naar de rechter stapte. Die oordeelde dat de wet mogelijk een inbreuk vormt op de vrijheid van meningsuiting.

    Die opschorting weerhield Uthmeier er niet van om het restaurant The Kilted Mermaid te dagvaarden. De dagvaarding, die eerder deze maand werd uitgevaardigd, vraagt om kopieën van gastenlijsten, reserveringsregisters, bewakingsbeelden en contracten waarin artiesten worden geïdentificeerd. Dat maakte de procureur zelf bekend in een persbericht. Die verklaring zat vol anti-LGBTQ-retoriek en viel de tienduizenden burgers aan die drag-evenementen in de staat hebben bijgewoond: “In Florida offeren we de onschuld van kinderen niet op voor de perversies van een stel gestoorde volwassenen.”

    Foto: Pexels/Jesus Boscan

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