And Tango Makes Three

Florida School District Bans Book About Real-Life Same-Sex Penguin Couple

Because you "don't say gay" under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' education crackdown.

By Mary Papenfuss
Jan 5, 2023

See the latest from Politico: "Florida school district and state ed leaders sued over restricting kids book on penguins"

In fighting the district’s decision, the lawsuit noted that the book is without offensive language or sexually explicit content and stays true to a biological fact that same-sex behavior is “a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom.

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In a particularly bird-brained political move, a Florida school district [Lake County School District]h as reportedly banned books about an actual same-sex penguin couple from classrooms and school libraries.

The award-winning 2005 children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” features a real-life male chinstrap penguin couple — Roy and Silo — that built a nest together at the zoo in New York’s Central Park. The birds ended up “adopting” an orphan penguin chick (Tango) and raising it as their own. (Other same-sex penguin couples have since been discovered in other zoos.)

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“Tango” is often a target of book banners. In 2015, The Daily Express named it on its list of surprising banned books — which also included “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Where’s Waldo.” The newspaper called “Tango” a “delightful kiddies’ tale of two penguins who fall in love and adopt a baby” that “doesn’t exactly scream out controversy.”