In March, I began documenting schools across the country carrying the pornographic book, Gender Queer. The book details sexually explicit acts (e.g., oral sex) and is becoming increasingly accessible to school children. I took a screenshot of the book’s availability at a school district in Florida, Hillsborough County School District (HCSD), and saved it with the others.
This week, I decided to go back and review the schools that previously offered the book to see if it was still available, as Gender Queer has faced intense scrutiny for its provocative content. HCSD, which had Gender Queer available in March, suddenly appeared to have removed the book, with the website saying the availability was “unknown.” Another page said it that was “unavailable.”
Seeing this I thought, “Wow… maybe this district isn’t totally rotten to the core and quietly removed the book.” I hadn’t seen any media coverage about HCSD, which is the 7th largest school district in the country, removing the book. I decided to reach out to HCSD’s library team via email to get some information on the new status.
The response was quick and the HCSD Director of Public Relations, Erin Maloney, explained that Gender Queer “has not been removed” and it was simply a technical error.
