Newser: Federal judge allows lawsuit against Florida’s Escambia County School District to proceed – “A Florida school district is keeping students from accessing dictionaries which, in defining sex and other concepts, are considered to violate the state law prohibiting materials in schools that depict or describe sexual conduct, per the Messenger. Escambia County School District has pulled more than 1,600 books from school libraries while reviewing whether they violate state law HB 1069. At least five dictionaries—the American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary for Students, Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary, the Clear and Simple Thesaurus Dictionary, and the Dictionary of Costume—have been removed, according to a list shared by PEN America, which sued the district last May, alleging violations of the First and 14th amendments.” [h/t Pete Weiss]

See also Florida law led school district to pull 1,600 books — including dictionaries [read free]: “…A Post analysis showed that books with LGBTQ characters or protagonists of color were most likely to be challenged nationwide — and that the wave of challenges came from a small handful of highly active adults. Half of challenged books return to schools. LGBTQ books are banned most. Just 11 people were responsible for more than 60 percent of schoolbook challenges filed nationwide in the 2021-2022 school year, The Post found. Almost half of challenged books are eventually returned to shelves, The Post found, although LGBTQ books are most likely to be banned.”