And Tango Makes Three Should Return to the Shelf in Escambia County, ACLU Argueshttps://www.aclu.org/press-releases/and-tango-makes-three-should-return-to-the-shelf-in-escambia-county-aclu-argues 🔗ACLU of Florida (29 Dec 2025)
ATLANTA – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida filed an amicus brief in Parnell v. School Board of Escambia County today, arguing that the First Amendment prevents the government from removing books from school libraries for ideological reasons.
And Tango Makes Three, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole, was removed from schools in Escambia County, Florida in 2023 because of its depiction of two male penguins raising a chick together. The book, based on real penguins at the Central Park Zoo, has won multiple literary awards and is widely beloved by parents and educators. Parnell and Richardson filed suit in 2023 alongside a student in Escambia County schools, arguing that the book's removal violated the First Amendment.
"Removing a book from the library explicitly because of its perceived ideological leanings is antithetical to the First Amendment," said Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. "The pedagogical value of And Tango Makes Three has never been questioned by the school board, and similar books with heterosexual penguins remain on the shelf. The government has no business deciding which types of penguins, books, or relationships we can read about."
