For years, Florida has been at the vanguard of removing books from school libraries. Florida Republicans, including Governor Ron DeSantis (R), insisted that school librarians were seeking to "groom" children with pornographic materials. Florida's Republican legislature passed — and Ron DeSantis signed — several pieces of legislation that made it easier to take books off the shelves of the state's public schools. This was all seen as smart politics, appealing to parents seeking to protect their children from inappropriate content.
The wheels of democracy turn slowly, but they do turn. Should it have gotten anywhere close to this far? Hell no. But this does bring me some very very cautious optimism.