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
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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."
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."
The Febrile Muse@juddlegum
That man must have inner demons.
That man must have inner demons.