Yearbook spread with three photos of students protesting carrying LGBTQ pride flags

Pages from 2021-2022 Lyman High School yearbook that district officials threatened to cover with stickers.

When the Lyman High School yearbook staff in Seminole County, Florida were documenting the highlights of their year, they never expected that reporting on a student walkout against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, known as “Don’t Say Gay,” would get them censored.

But it did.

Seminole County administrators threatened them: cover up that reporting with stickers, or you can’t release the yearbook.

So they fought back, and the Student Press Law Center had their back.

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Leaders of the yearbook staff reached out to SPLC’s free legal hotline for advice. And because of supporters like you, SPLC was able to immediately mobilize help. SPLC’s attorneys gave the students what they needed to fight for their First Amendment rights.

SPLC published the threatened yearbook spread before it could be stickered over, and media outlets throughout Florida and around the country picked up the story. The hashtag #StopTheStickers started to trend.

And it worked! After many students testified at the School Board meeting, the stickers were stopped and the yearbook was published with an unobtrusive clarifying note. Student journalist leaders and SPLC are now trying to help the school board change their student media policy so this won’t happen again.

Your support enables the SPLC legal hotline to stay open — and free — for all students and advisers.

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Sincerely,

Hadar Harris
Executive Director, Student Press Law Center

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