LGBTQ+ books binned by Florida college after gender studies programme discontinued
Republican governor for Florida Ron DeSantis has passed dozens of pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the state (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A Florida college has been criticised after hundreds of books, including those covering LGBTQ+ topics, race, religious studies and feminism, were “dumped” on campus.
According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, LGBTQ+ books were seen outside the New College of Florida’s “now-defunct” Gender and Diversity Centre on Thursday (15 August).
The books, including When I Knew, a collection of stories from LGBTQ+ people about coming out, were reportedly thrown in a skip in the wake of the liberal arts college’s decision to cancel the gender studies programme last year.
Several of the books were said to have been collected by activists and students before they could be dumped.
The college claimed that getting rid of the books – reportedly including HG Wells’s classic War of the Worlds –was part of routine maintenance, and that because the gender studies programme, which has been offered to students since 1995, had been discontinued, the books were being “weeded” out.
“The New College library is following its long-standing annual procedures for weeding its collection, which involves the removal of materials that are old, damaged or otherwise no longer serving the needs of the college,” a spokesperson said.
“The images seen online of a dumpster of library materials is related to the standard weeding process.”
Many books could have been damaged in Tropical Storm Debby, which hit Florida earlier this month, he claimed.
Amy Reid, the former chairperson of the gender studies department, and a representative to the board of trustees, told the Herald-Tribune that she was blindsided by the removal of the books, saying she wanted a period of mourning for the lost material.
“I want to do that for books because books are what matter,” she said.
The New College of Florida, which was thought of as queer-friendly and progressive, has been targeted in the past year by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, who pulled funding for diversity, equality and inclusion programmes from all public schools last year.
The changes to the Sarasota college began in January 2023, when DeSantis appointed hard-line conservative activist Christopher Rufo to the school’s board of trustees. As part of his appointment, the school was promised “a new core curriculum from scratch”.
Rufo said of the students attending the school at the time: “We’re happy to work with them to make New College a great place to continue their education or we’d be happy to work with them to help them find something that suits them better. We anticipate this is going to be a process that involves conflict.”
Later that year, Rufo introduced a motion to scrap the gender studies programme.
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