Judd Legum1. This man moved from New York to Florida a few months ago
Now he wants to ban 3600 BOOKS from the school libraries
And he's already made significant progress
Follow along if interested
🧵
2. This year, at least 102 books have been removed from the shelves of school libraries in Clay County Florida
Many of these books were pulled at the request of 1 man: Bruce Friedman
A conservative activist and longtime resident of New York, Friedman moved to Clay County in May
3. One of the books pulled from the shelves is The Girl From The Sea, an award-winning graphic novel.
The book is about a 15-year-old girl who develops romantic feelings for another girl.
The two girls hold hands and, at one point, share a kiss.
No sex. No nudity. No swearing
4. In an interview with Popular Information, Friedman described The Girl From The Sea as a book for "slightly post-pubescent little lesbians."
Friedman says he objects to the book being available because students are "not in school to learn how to be better lesbians."
5. The Girl From The Sea has been removed from Clay County school libraries because of a new policy, implemented in July, that requires books to be pulled as soon as a challenge has been properly filed.
Friedman has exploited this policy by flooding the district with challenges.
6. Popular Information has obtained dozens of Friedman's challenge forms through public information requests.
The forms are identical.
The reason for the request is to "PROTECT CHILDREN," the objectionable material is "INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT."
7. Friedman told Popular Information that, since June 30, he has "investigated between 5 and 10 thousand" books available in Clay County school libraries on "a very cursory level."
MylesRyden@juddlegum
As you well know THIS is the kind of "freedumb" Republicans are now selling.
As usual in fascist regimes, they think it is great, right up to the moment their thing (whatever it might be: divorce, drinking, gambling, etc.) is the next target of the morality police.
Partly Peaceful Chris@MylesRyden @juddlegum Spot On👏👏👏 we may look like Iran in 20 years?
DR. SURFERCHIC@ChrisMarshall @MylesRyden @juddlegum@journrepugnant.
We already do. Morality Police in TX includes every Qrazy that turns in a woman and thise who help her choose bodily automony.
8. In an interview, Friedman acknowledged that he filed challenges over the summer WITHOUT READING THE CHALLENGED BOOKS.
Friedman said he has already filed more than 350 challenges.
9. Eventually, Clay County began to reject Freidman's challenges as incomplete because they do not include any real explanation of the objection.
But Friedman is undeterred and, in the hopes of getting more challenges accepted, said he has started reading the books first.
10. Friedman says he is just getting started.
During a November 28 meeting of the Florida Department of Education Library Media Working Group, Friedman said he had compiled "a list of over 3,600 titles that I believe have concerning content."
11. Friedman demanded that the Department of Education "clean up this mess." If not, Friedman threatened to "perform 3,600 challenges and overwhelm your awful, awful procedures and policies."
12. Friedman acknowledged he is not aware of any children who were exposed to objectionable content at a school library and had it negatively impact their lives.
"I don't have to know them," Friedman said. "It's all of them."
MORE: https://popular.info/p/how-to-ban-3600-books-from-school
How to ban 3600 books from school libraries
This year, at least 102 books have been removed from the shelves of school libraries in Clay County, Florida. Many of these books were pulled at the request of one man: Bruce Friedman. A conservative activist and longtime resident of New York, Friedman moved to Clay County this May.
13. Were you interested in this thread?
Hey, you made it this far.
Prediction: YOU'LL BE EVEN MORE INTERESTED IN OUR NEWSLETTER.
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AnthonyUplandpoetWatkins@juddlegum
I like everything else I’m was gonna sign up until I saw the thing about more punctuation. What the hell does that mean? Is that some kind of elitist jab? No thanks.
I like everything else I’m was gonna sign up until I saw the thing about more punctuation. What the hell does that mean? Is that some kind of elitist jab? No thanks.
DwntwnT@AnthonyUplandpoetWatkins @juddlegum
??? I've been signed up for his newsletter for quite a while now. I dont recall anything weird about it. 🤔
??? I've been signed up for his newsletter for quite a while now. I dont recall anything weird about it. 🤔
Just going by the offensive description
@AnthonyUplandpoetWatkins offensive description of what please? Apologies, I'm back & forth between 4 sites at the moment ✌
@juddlegum
This post got me into a dog pile and then when I complained about it, I got threatened by mastodon so I guess you got a know where to pick your fights here.
This post got me into a dog pile and then when I complained about it, I got threatened by mastodon so I guess you got a know where to pick your fights here.
14. The actual standard for library books is established by a new Florida law, HB 1467
It states that library books must be free of pornography, suited to student needs, and appropriate for the age group
15. Friedman said he did not believe The Girl From The Sea is pornographic. But, according to Friedman, it should be removed from the school library because it is "in very poor taste" and "sets a terrible example for our children, straight or gay."
16. According to Friedman, the book promotes "promiscuity" and "pre-marital sex" when "we are supposed to be promoting abstinence."
Friedman cited the "Parental Rights Act," also known as the "Don't Say Gay" law, to justify these objections.
17. The Parental Rights Act, however, prohibits classroom instruction of elementary students about sexuality and gender. It does not apply to library books.
18. Despite this confusion about the legal standard, Friedman and others have already been able to PERMANENTLY remove dozens of books from Clay County school libraries.
Here's how it works.
How to ban 3600 books from school libraries
This year, at least 102 books have been removed from the shelves of school libraries in Clay County, Florida. Many of these books were pulled at the request of one man: Bruce Friedman. A conservative activist and longtime resident of New York, Friedman moved to Clay County this May.
19. Starting this year, groups like No Left Turn in Education began challenging library material en masse. School officials are fearful.
Since March, the county librarians have not been able to purchase any new material -- or even order new copies of books already on shelves
20. Under Clay County's July 2022 policy, any challenge should be reviewed by a District Curriculum Council, a rotating panel of school officials. But when challenges from Friedman and others started flooding in, the leadership of Clay County schools handled things differently
21. According to Julie Miller, the chair of the Clay County Education Association Media Committee, were pressured to determine if the books were eligible to be "weeded" or "deselected."
22. The librarians were also reminded that, under Florida law, they could potentially be held personally liable for making "pornographic" material available to minors.
Fenix🔥 Resistance Starts NOW
Meryem Fuat@juddlegum How does Friedman support himself and his family? Who’s paying for all this activism?
@Meryem_Fuat
This was my first thought, lol
This was my first thought, lol
MrLaCave 
@juddlegum Friedman is one of the rare cases where #CancelCulture is really appropriate...
Pamela Barroway – Biz Editor@juddlegum Just awful. I had lapsed my Friend of the Library membership during the pandemic and just renewed it earlier this year. I'm going over to their website right now to donate, and when I return the current book I'm reading I'm going to make a point of thanking the librarians.
@pineywoozle ‘s #3WordNote
dcast@juddlegum This isn't a bug of the new law, it's a feature. The plan was to make it easier for one crackpot to do this kind of crap.
Mi Lia@juddlegum such people make me sick.
DamnKimberlee@juddlegum popular information is one of the best sources reliable information on the Internet.
Tawfiq Karimi@juddlegum we are so doomed. This is only the beginning. They won’t stop until everyone of us think the same way they do.
🦫💧🐸 🌻🌹@juddlegum i think Mr Freidman is in very poor taste. What a sad a disgraceful man. 🌈
Confiscated Pillow Phone@juddlegum Wait until he finds out about the ending to "Of Mice and Men."
Jesus H Christ🔹
Benj Soule🫂💙HumanityFirst🌅How about lets raise our children better instead of banning books. That's what parents are for. #Education #censorship
@retrohondajunki let’s raise them to be critical thinkers!
pam_1965@juddlegum
I've been a subscriber. And just have to say after reading the full article, of course Tucker Carlson was involved in getting this guy started.
I've been a subscriber. And just have to say after reading the full article, of course Tucker Carlson was involved in getting this guy started.
Frank Cote@juddlegum it'sa great newsletter. Thanks
Eric@juddlegum Its creepy I seem to agree with you to much.
We Can Be Gyros@juddlegum does Bruce Friedman have children attending public schools?
@WecanbeGyros @juddlegum that’s what I WANT TO KNOW!
Plague Doctor@juddlegum Imagine having a life so empty, so devoid of purpose, that this is how you spend your precious days on the planet. Sad little man. Now they need to change the laws to stop these frivolous challenges.
The Febrile Muse@juddlegum
That man must have inner demons.
That man must have inner demons.
AmericanMe@juddlegum Florida has a child predator problem and shouldn’t be trusted until the entire state goes through a fine tooth combing of its sick. From a distance, Florida is absolutely disgusting to me because of what the Epstein’s and Acosta’s and Gaetz creeps get away with. Oh and Donald is officially a creep as well. I wish they could see what it seems like from a distance. It looks absolutely covered in sex trafficking and corruption. And that sucks bc Harry Potter is there, Disney
@juddlegum someone look at what else is on Bruce Friedmans laptop. By any chance, did he practice law in NYS? He seems familiar to me.
Jon King@juddlegum lol. Now we know how to get republicans to read.
Michael Glotzer@juddlegum seems like this guy likes to read a certain kind of book meant for young kids. 🤔
Ty Ross@juddlegum Has anyone reminded these fascists that the library isn’t class? Ffs, I’m so tired of this.
Aris Teon@juddlegum the problem is that pieces of news like this are not crafted into a consistent narrative that dominates public discourse. Whereas the far right propaganda machinery uses any excuse to create false narratives and spread them, so their false narratives become more or as widespread as real ones. I see 'apolitical' people repeat far right talking points like 'cancel culture' just because that's what they pick up from social media.
Tony Price@juddlegum I can't understand how US school librarians are such wimps. Most librarians I know are in favour of 'banned books' being freely available. How come the US school system doesn't work on the 'Innocent until proved guilty' rule? i.e. No book shall be removed from a school library until it has been PROVED to damage a child?
slfisher@godspelled @juddlegum Because some states are putting laws in place that would personally charge librarians with crimes if they are found to disseminate material "harmful to minors."