Florida school district cites ‘pre-marital sex’ as reason to ban students studying play
A Florida school district is censoring William Shakespeare to conform with governor Ron DeSantis’ controversial “don’t say gay” law.
Students will only be allowed to read excerpts of the Bard’s work that avoid racy or sexual references, rather than whole plays, at Hillsborough County’s public high schools.
The district, which covers the city of Tampa, said it was refining its curriculum to align with new laws after Florida’s governor and the state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a sweeping set of restrictions on classroom discussion.
The edict on Shakespeare follows the Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly referred to by critics as the “don’t say gay” law.