Judy Blume Slams Gov. DeSantis’ Florida Censorship in Passionate Speech: ‘Teachers Are Under Fire’

variety.com:

Selome Hailu Judy Blume stood up for the right to read at Variety‘s Power of Women luncheon, presented by Lifetime, in New York City on Tuesday.

The resident Floridian spoke passionately against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent moves to censor public education in the state. “I live in Key West — even though we like to pretend it’s not in Florida — we have the same governor,” Blume said to the crowd. “A governor who wants to control everything, starting with what kids can think, what they can know, what they can question, what they can learn, and now even what they can talk about.

We have a legislator who’s trying to put through a bill preventing girls in elementary school from talking about periods… Good luck there.” Blume is, of course, referencing her 1970 children’s novel “Are You There God?

It’s Me, Margaret” and the backlash the book suffered for having the audacity to talk about puberty. Starting off with a little history lesson, the celebrated author painted a picture of what she had to endure and how that experience led her to the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC). “Let me take you back to the 1980s when the censors crawled out of the woodwork overnight, following the presidential election,” Blume said. “And what a time that was – with parents rushing into [their] children’s schools waving a book saying, ‘I demand that you get rid of this book!’ Most of the time these parents had never even read the book (maybe they had pages turned down).