Identity of Speakers
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Just-Opposed
Student
OtherStudent-produced arts and culture magazine featuring photography, poetry, personal storytelling, and coverage of local arts, businesses, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Student publication
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
Publication retraction
State Campus Free Speech Act
Title IX or other federal statute
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
On April 29, 2026, Pensacola State College administrators stopped the planned printing of Just-Opposed, a student arts and culture magazine created through a collaboration between the college’s Reporting I and Graphic Design II classes. The magazine contained 10 stories and photo essays about Pensacola’s arts and alternative culture, including the 309 Punk House, local music, a record store, a skate park, poetry events, and local businesses. Three stories addressed LGBTQ+ topics: “Born for the Spotlight: The Rise of Vixen Valentine,” a profile of a local drag performer; “Queer Stories, Rolling Forward: Perfect Day Books,” about a local bookmobile operated by a lesbian couple; and “Pensacola Poets,” about a local poetry group and its open-mic events. Administrators told the faculty adviser that the three stories could not be printed with college funding, citing Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, and students were asked to remove or edit the LGBTQ+ content.
On May 1, 2026, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) asked the college to allow the magazine to be printed, arguing that denying funding based on the content violated the students’ First Amendment rights. PSC responded that the students had completed the project as assigned and that printing the magazine was optional. The college maintained that the faculty member’s academic freedom had not been violated and that the April 29 meeting concerned the optional printing of the completed project.
On May 12, 2026, FIRE sent a second letter challenging the college’s position. On May 18, PSC President C. Edward Meadows said the college had determined, after reviewing the matter, that it could fund the printing of 100 copies of Just-Opposed for students’ personal portfolios. The college agreed that the copies would include the three previously disputed articles but distinguished printing copies for students from publishing the magazine for public distribution.
On May 26, 2026, the college began printing the magazine. PSC said it took exception to the allegation that its administrators had violated the students’ First Amendment rights. The students subsequently raised more than $2,000 to independently produce 500 copies for public distribution, revising the magazine and adding pages after the college-printed version contained errors and omitted some student design work. The independently produced magazine was printed in late June and released to the public in July.
