'Christian, The Hugging Lion' latest children's book banned in Florida – despite no mention of sexuality: report

A children's book about a lion raised by two men has been banned in Florida because right-wing activists suspect the men might be gay – despite nothing in the book suggesting they have any romantic relationship, according to a report.

The Florida Department of Education released new information about books that were banned or temporarily removed pending investigation in various county school systems as part of the state's new laws making it easier to challenge material in a school library, reported the Tallahassee Democrat. One of the books was "Christian, the Hugging Lion."

According to the report, schools in Manatee County, a conservative community just south of Tampa, withdrew the book that's based on the true story about a pair of men who raise a lion in their London apartment, then are lovingly remembered by the animal when they go to Africa to see him years later.

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Nothing in the book indicates the two men are in a same-sex relationship — but activists speculated that they might be, which was enough for a complaint about the book.

As the report notes, "Christian, the Hugging Lion" was written by the same authors who wrote "And Tango Makes Three," a book about a pair of male penguins who raise a family. That book is also restricted in some Florida schools, and the authors have filed a federal lawsuit against Florida and a county school board.

This is only the latest in a series of bans and restrictions on content in schools being pushed in Florida. Last month, state laws prompted a school system in Hillsborough County to heavily redact the works of William Shakespeare, teaching only excerpts of his plays.

Florida, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, has become a battleground for cultural fights over what can be taught in schools. The Parental Rights in Education Act, the same law that spawned these controversies, is also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, as it also prohibits "classroom instruction" on sexual orientation and gender identity for grades K-3, or for any other grade "in a manner that is not age appropriate."

A later revision to the law expanded the blanket ban to grade 8. The law is so vague about what "classroom instruction" means that it can effectively ban even the display of Pride rainbows in classrooms.

Many of the book challenges under the law have been spearheaded by Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization classified as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group has gone out of its way to honor DeSantis for an award. As part of their school censorship campaigns, some chapters of Moms for Liberty have been known to work closely with members of the Proud Boys, a group whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.