The results of a new survey published by Knight Foundation in partnership with Langer Research Associates shows that book bans, and the people who promote them, are losing support. The recent primary election results in Florida, home base for book-banning Moms for Liberty, show even more rejection at the ballot box.
First, the survey: Of more than 4,500 adults sampled, two thirds oppose book bans in public schools, and 78% trust school staff to stock shelves with “appropriate” titles. And although 60% of respondents view “appropriateness” as a reason to place restrictions on book access, Book Riot’s Kelly Jensen notes, “‘appropriateness’ here is not about topics like diversity, queerness, social-emotional learning, climate change, and other issues that have been the target of the book banning agenda.”
While Americans largely share a distaste for book bans and 23% are aware that these kinds of censorship efforts are happening in their community, only three percent have gotten involved, with two percent fighting to retain challenged titles and one percent attempting to ban them. In other words, says Jensen, an incredibly small subset of people are “instigating the astronomical rise in book bans nationwide.”
Diminishing Returns
Both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Moms for Liberty took major hits during last week’s election. Eleven out of 23 DeSantis-backed candidates lost their races.
Updated to add the runoff in Brevard: pic.twitter.com/nwOokbkXIJ
— Florida Freedom to Read Project (@FLFreedomRead) August 21, 2024
While Moms for Liberty’s list of school board endorsements in Florida somewhat differs from that of DeSantis, the results match a trend that started with recent elections: Campaigning on book bans is a losing platform. Of M4L’s list of endorsements in Florida, only three candidates won. Six lost their campaigns, while an additional five will be headed to a runoff election in November.
Of note in Indian River County: Candidates endorsed by DeSantis and M4L lost their races. Indian River is the birthplace of M4L. Stitching an article from the Associated Press, author and social media personality Jeffrey Marsh said, “even the people of Florida don’t want school board members who harass LGBTQ kids, who ban books, who push Christian nationalist agendas in schools.”
@thejeffreymarsh Gotta love it 💛🌈🌈 #lgbtq #schoolboard #desantis #elections #politics
Florida and the Waning Influence of Moms for Liberty
Last week’s losses come after years of coordinated assault against books by and about LGBTQ people and people of color. According to a PEN America report, July-December 2023 saw more book bans than the entire 2022-23 school year. In Florida alone, there were 3,135 bans in 11 school districts.
GLAAD’s Accountability Tracker notes Gov. DeSantis’ multiple attacks against inclusive books, schools and libraries:
- Declared that Florida “will not comply” and would “fight back” against recent Title IX rule updates announced by the Biden administration, which include specific protections for LGBTQ students and prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
- While calling book ban accusations against him a “hoax” and stating that Florida book bans are a “false narrative,” DeSantis walked back earlier book ban efforts under the “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law (House Bill 1557). Florida now limits book challenges to one title per month for “residents who don’t have a child in school.”
- Spoke at Moms for Liberty’s 2023 national summit, and appointed M4L co-founder Bridget Ziegler to an oversight board he created to take on Disney after the company critiqued DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ agenda. Ziegler and her husband Christian were later investigated as part of a rape allegation from a woman they had a sexual relationship with.
- Signed House Bill 1557 into law in 2022. The legislation, informally known as “Don’t Say LGBTQ” or “Don’t Say Gay,” initially forbade discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in K-3 public schools. The following year, DeSantis expanded the ban to all grades. Said DeSantis, “Schools are not there for you to try to go on some ideological joyride at the expense of our kids.”
In 2023, DeSantis and the Board of Governors appointed several members to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees. This month, passersby discovered that the college tossed hundreds of LGBTQ-inclusive titles from their dismantled Gender and Diversity Center.
@nbcnews Hundreds of books were discarded from the New College of Florida, many of them reportedly containing LGBTQ and gender themes.
Moms for Liberty appears to be trying to rebuild after its trouncing at the polls in 2023 and 2024, and devastating personal scandals against its co-founder and her disgraced husband. M4L has invited former President Donald Trump to speak at their annual summit this week, Trump’s second time addressing the group.