TAMPA, Fla. — Fla. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Renner requested records from Hillsborough County Public Schools related to the placement of a challenged book in the Pierce Middle School library.

What You Need To Know

  • FL House of Representatives Speaker Paul Renner has requested records related to the placement of "This Book is Gay" in the Pierce Middle School library

  • A news release from Renner says, "The request seeks to understand the decision-making processes for allowing such materials to be made available to young children and how school officials address parental objections"

  • A member of Moms for Liberty - Hillsborough County says the group has concerns that the book is not age-appropriate for middle schoolers

  • A report provided to Spectrum Bay News 9 by Moms for Liberty - Hillsborough on a committee's decision that the book should remain in Pierce's library says it could be a good resource for an underrepresented group

"While the vast majority of reading and educational materials in our school libraries are age-appropriate, some books are so clearly obscene and directed to children that they would be rejected by adult bookstores. Any fair-minded person reviewing these books would agree, and we will not tolerate continued efforts to bypass Florida law," Renner said in a statement. 

In a letter dated February 2, Renner writes to Hillsborough Superintendent Addison Davis, "Recent media reports indicate that elementary and middle school libraries within your school district contain numerous books that appear not to be age-appropriate, and that at least some schools engage in an opaque decision-making process when addressing complaints from concerned parents." 

Renner goes on to request a number of records related to "This Book is Gay," by Juno Dawson. They include all documents related its selection to be included in Pierce's library, complaints against it, and records concerning Pierce's Education Media Materials Committee's decision not to remove the book from the library during the challenge process.

Jessica Graham, chair of the Hillsborough County chapter of Moms for Liberty, told Spectrum Bay News 9 the challenge was filed by Julie Gebhards, who runs the Instagram account Ban Explicit Books in Schools. Graham said Gebhards is also a member of Moms for Liberty - Hillsborough. Graham provided a copy of the final report from Pierce's Educational Media Materials Committee that said the book should remain in the school library. The report said the book "can be a resource for an underrepresented community" and "a resource such as this is better than word-of-mouth information shared by peers."

"They deemed that this was what the community wants, and they deemed it age-appropriate, but we totally disagree on that point," said Laura Kissak, chair of the Moms for Liberty - Hillsborough County Inappropriate Library Books Committee. 

Kissak said the group was glad to learn of Renner's letter to Davis.

"We have been fighting these books in the school board for about 18 months," said Kissak. "We've had various members reading from the books constantly to the school board members, and they've done absolutely nothing. So, we're so excited to see this come out."

According to Spectrum News' reporting partners at the Tampa Bay Times, Davis said of the letter, "This is a public records request for us. We will entertain it. We will make sure we gather all the right documentation." The Times also reports Davis said the district is in stage two of the challenge process with "This Book is Gay," and it is up for review by a district committee.