The suit was one of several challenges to book bans since state lawmakers last year passed, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law, legislation making it easier to challenge educational materials that opponents consider pornographic and obscene. Last month six major publishers and several well-known authors filed a federal lawsuit in Orlando arguing that some provisions of the law violate the First Amendment rights of publishers, authors and students.
“Fighting unconstitutional legislation in Florida and across the country is an urgent priority,” Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks said in a statement.
Among the books removed in Nassau County were titles by Toni Morrison, Khaled Hosseini, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jodi Picoult and Alice Sebold.
Under the settlement the school district agreed that “And Tango Makes Three” is not obscene, is appropriate for students of all ages and has value related to teaching.
“Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas," Lauren Zimmerman, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, said in a statement.
Brett Steger, an attorney for the school district, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.