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Florida's Brevard School District Bans Sasaki and Miyano Manga for 'Inappropriate' Content

The Brevard Public Schools Board in Florida banned the first volume of Shō Harusono's Sasaki and Miyano boys-love manga from the district's school libraries during a board meeting on August 27.

A person in the district challenged the book's inclusion in the schools' libraries on the grounds that "sexual orientation should not be encouraged, suggested, or implanted" in the youth.

Yen Press publishes the series in English and describes the story:

It all started like a typical old-school boys' love plotline-bad-boy senior meets adorably awkward underclassman, one of them falls in love, and so on and so forth. But although Miyano is a self-proclaimed boys' love expert, he hasn't quite realized…he's in one himself. Which means it's up to Sasaki to make sure their story has a happily ever after…!

The complaint also included concerns children would be "exposed to age-inappropriate, obscene, explicit content" and that there was "no value in making homosexual books available at school." The book is rated for T for Teens.

The complainant suggested other manga to replace the series such as Chainsaw Man, To Your Eternity, and The Seven Deadly Sins among others.

Board Chair Megan Wright objected to the book's content due to its focus on a romantic relationship, as well as the Japanese reading format of reading the book from right-to-left.

The district's Book Review Committee had previously recommended to keep the book after determining that the book did not violate Florida's Statute 847.012, but the board voted 3-to-2 in favor of banning the book.

Florida's Laws

Florida's House Bill 1467 passed in July 2022 and went into effect in January 2023. Combined with Florida's existing Statute 847.012, it requires school libraries to only include books pre-approved or vetted by a holder of "a valid educational media specialist certificate" from Florida's Department of Education or staffers could face a third-degree felony. House Bill 1069 went into effect in July 2023 and prohibits books in school libraries with "pornographic" content or content that “describes sexual conduct.”

Florida led the list for number of books challenged in public school and libraries across the U.S. in the American Library Association's report for last year, with almost 2,700 titles suggested for restriction or removal.

A group of major book publishers, including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins and others, filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Florida educations officials over the removal of titles, citing the First Amendment's right to free speech.

Background

Gifford Middle School in eastern Florida removed the Assassination Classroom manga from its library in March 2023 after receiving complaints from groups. The Elmbrook School District in southeastern Wisconsin similarly removed the manga from its electronic library that month after a complaint by a parent. The series faced challenges in other states as well.

Utah banned 13 non-manga books from all public schools in the state in August, under a new law that bans books in all of Utah's 41 school districts if at least three districts boards ban them for pornographic or indecent material. According to the Associated Press, Tennessee, Idaho, and South Carolina have similar laws and regulations that allow books to be banned in school libraries statewide.

Harusono launched the Sasaki and Miyano manga on the pixiv website in 2016.

The manga's television anime adaptation premiered on January 9 and aired for 12 episodes. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired and also streamed an English dub.

Sources: Florida Today (Finch Walker), WESH-TV, Jennifer Jenkins Brevard's X/Twitter account, (link 2), Brevard Public Schools' YouTube account via Anime Corner