A Florida school district has pulled three dictionaries which define words like “sex” off of library shelves as part of its review of Florida’s controversial HB1069 bill. The bill requires stricter controls on sexual education materials by the Department of Education, and has led to widespread removal of books which describe sexual conduct from schools. The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary for Students, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary are just some of the 2,800 books that have been taken off the shelves in Escambia County. On Wednesday, advocacy group PEN America took the district to court over the decision. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously called accusations that he was banning books in Florida a “hoax.”
