Children's Book About Gay Parent "Weeded Out" From Miami-Dade Schools, District Says

Claiming the material is "inappropriate" for students, the Miami-Dade County school district has removed a children's picture book that tells the tale of a gay couple raising a son in a loving, supportive household.

Published in 1990, Daddy's Roommate was one of the first widely read children's books to portray gay people as parents. It follows the story of a boy whose divorced father moves in with his mustachioed new partner, Frank, illustrating the trio's new life through a series of full-page watercolor images of them reading, cooking, going to the zoo, singing, and doing chores together.

"Mommy says Daddy and Frank are gay. At first, I didn't know what that meant. So she explained it," the book reads. "Being gay is just one more kind of love. And love is the best kind of happiness."

The book, written by Michael Willhoite, features one simple sentence per page, none containing sexual references or explicit material. In response to backlash upon the book's release, the publisher, Alyson Books, said the work is meant to ease stigmatization and marginalization by showing gay people parenting.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools has confirmed that following a book audit, Daddy's Roommate was among three works that were taken off the school library shelves this year because of their "adult content" or "sexually charged language." The other two books were bestselling fantasy author Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury and Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies.

"These books were only located in four of our libraries, and the singular copies were weeded out," a school district spokesperson tells New Times via email.

The school district has yet to respond to follow-up questions.

After it was published by the LGBTQ-focused Alyson Books (formerly known as Alyson Publications) following the release of the book Heather Has Two Mommies, Daddy's Roommate was named by the American Library Association as the "most contested book" in 1993 and 1994. It went on to become one of the most challenged books in the nation in the 1990s. On a 1992 Larry King Live segment, a concerned guest denounced the book for its "explicit pictures of two men hugging each other."

In 1998, the book was challenged at the Brevard County library by a resident who claimed it was promoting a homosexual lifestyle. During the 2008 presidential race, it was alleged that then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin had attempted to remove the book from a public library in Alaska while serving as a local councilwoman in the mid-1990s.

In an email, Miami-Dade Public Schools explained that the three removed books were pulled from libraries not in response to a challenge by parents, but because of an audit that deemed the works inappropriate for students.

"These books were neither objected to nor challenged. However, through an audit, they were identified as inappropriate due to the adult content and sexually charged language utilized throughout the books," the school district says.

The district attached a series of screenshots showing reviews of the books on Follet Titlewave, an online platform that features book lists, reading levels, professional reviews, and educator guides, which identifies works as "Adult" or "Young Adult" in nature.

While a screenshot of Daddy's Roommate on the platform lists the roughly 30-page picture book as intended for ages 4 to 8, the audience is listed as "adult." (On the other hand, A Court of Mist and Fury,  a fantasy novel which has multiple sex scenes throughout its 620-page mythical saga, is listed as "young adult.")

The site lists Daddy's Roommate as "out of print" and "no longer available."

"Note that Daddy's Roommate is now an archived title in Titlewave and therefore may be removed from libraries," the district's email reads.

The Florida Freedom to Read project tells New Times that the process used to remove the book "represents a larger issue" whereby "districts across Florida are removing books without a formal objection." The group says the story is about "everyday family life, not sexual conduct" and that a proper review process would have confirmed as much.

Moms for Libros, a collective of parents opposing book censorship in Florida, tells New Times that the county's "censorship protocol put all students at a disadvantage, academically and socially."

"Students should have the opportunity to learn about the world, our individual differences, and the cultural nuances that shape the human race," Moms for Libros co-founders Lissette Fernandez and Vanessa Brito wrote in a statement.

They added: "For LGBTQ+ children, not only should they be able to see themselves represented in books, but they should know that there is nothing wrong with who they are. LGBTQ+ themed books offer them the solace and acceptance they deserve to thrive."

Over the past two years, America has seen a surge in book bans as parents, conservative activists, and elected officials have flooded school districts with requests to wipe scores of titles from classrooms and libraries — with Texas and Florida still leading the pack in such incidents.

After more than 200 books were banned in various school districts across Florida between the summer of 2021 and 2022, districts continued the crackdown, banning 357 books between July and December 2022, according to the nonprofit organization PEN America.

The surge in the removal of books — many of which are about race, sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity — came amid a flurry of new Florida public school regulations such as the Stop WOKE Act, which restricts classroom instruction about systemic racism, and Florida's "Don't Say Gay" measures, a set of statutes and administrative rules that restrict teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation.

In June, the Miami-Dade school board voted to revamp its book review policies after national backlash over the school district's removal of Amanda Gorman's poetry book The Hill We Climb following a challenge by an activist parent.