Turning Censorship into Just-Opposed

By Dakota Parks for Inweekly

Pensacola is no stranger to censorship. With the local school district removing more than 1,600 books from library shelves, and even an independent bookstore pulling LGBTQ+ titles, Escambia County has repeatedly found itself at the center of national debates over free expression.

But when Pensacola State College students were informed just one week before their student magazine was set to print that any articles containing LGBTQ+ content were not fit for publication, they were surprised.

“I was shocked because I’ve covered LGBTQ+ stories for the student newspaper, The Corsair, and I didn’t think that they would be able to censor us in that way,” said Quincy Kirn, editor for Just-Opposed magazine. “And it turns out, they weren’t able to censor us in that way.”

Just-Opposed, an arts-and-culture magazine that began as a collaborative project between Pensacola State College’s Reporting I and Graphic Design II classes, has been at the center of this dispute since April. Stakeholders include the college, its students and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonprofit dedicated to defending free speech.

According to a letter from FIRE, Pensacola State College had planned to fund the printing of Just-Opposed until PSC Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Brenda Kelly met with faculty on April 29. Citing the Stop WOKE Act, Kelly determined the college could not pay to print the magazine unless students removed or edited articles that “mention[ed] LGBTQ.” The censored articles included a profile of student drag queen Vixen Valentine, a feature on Perfect Day Books and a story about Pensacola Poetry’s regular open mic events.

“The whole premise of the magazine was to help get the community out there, off their phones,” Kirn said. “It was my understanding that we were going to get this student magazine in the hands of the community. Why else would we write stories to promote being active in your community if the community wasn’t going to read them in the first place? That’s why I contacted FIRE.”

FIRE urged the college to reverse its decision, arguing that suppressing the articles violated the students’ First Amendment rights. Students said they understood from the outset that the completed magazine would be professionally printed, and the college had allocated roughly $800 to produce 100 copies.

Although the college later agreed to print the magazine, the publication process had already unraveled. In a May 18 letter to FIRE, PSC President Ed Meadows said the college would pay to print 100 copies of Just-Opposed for students’ personal use only, drawing a distinction between “publishing” the magazine and “printing” copies solely for students’ portfolios. By then, design work had stalled, articles went unfinished, the semester had ended and the magazine was ultimately sent to the printer without student involvement.

“The fact that PSC was suddenly telling us that we can only use our stories for personal use only in our portfolios just wasn’t acceptable to us,” Kirn said. “Not to mention, the school’s printed version was poorly executed with errors and design issues.”

Determined to complete the project on their own terms and get the magazine into the hands of the community, a group of students launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $2,000 to independently print 500 copies of the magazine. Despite the controversy, the original name stuck.

“The name ‘Just-Opposed’ was catchy at first when it was just a school project, but then it took on a new meaning,” Kirn said. “The school did oppose us. They didn’t want our stories in there, and they didn’t want to represent us. So, we said, we’ll do it ourselves. We’ll be our own representatives, whether you want to stand with us or not.”

Graphic design student Rayzie Lee remembers the administration’s shift from giving editorial feedback to singling out LGBTQ+ stories for removal.

“As designers and writers, we were creating a publication centered around arts and culture, and LGBTQ+ voices are part of that culture,” Lee said. “It felt wrong to exclude people’s lived experiences simply because they made someone ‘uncomfortable.'”

Lee had already completed layouts for the semester-long publication before students learned it would not be printed as planned. Although her own work was not among the stories targeted, she said the fight quickly became bigger than any individual article.

“So many students had their work completely cut out,” Lee said. “It stopped being about individual pages and became about the fact that so much hard work and personal experience was being dismissed.”

When the students decided to publish independently, Lee unexpectedly stepped into the role of lead designer, helping turn an unfinished class assignment into a polished, community-funded magazine featuring 10 stories and photo essays on Pensacola’s arts and alternative culture. With support from the community, Just-Opposed went to print at the end of June.

“Designing Just-Opposed the second time felt much more intentional and urgent,” Lee said. “The magazine became something bigger; it carried emotional weight and public attention. I hope people understand this story is about more than controversy. It’s about students, creatives and real people who wanted to tell honest stories. Beyond the headlines, there were countless hours of work, collaboration and passion behind this publication. I am most proud of all my fellow design classmates and student journalists who helped this project along the way.”

The students will celebrate the public release of Just-Opposed on Friday, July 10 at 309 Punk Project. Open to the public, the free event will feature complimentary copies of the magazine, a drag performance by Vixen Valentine and a vendor fair of community organizations and businesses featured in the publication, including Perfect Day Books, Pensacola Poetry, Phantasma, PFLAG Pensacola, Emerald Waves Squares and Upward Intuition.

“I hope that readers take away the fact that you can make change—you can be the change you want to see in the world,” Kirn concluded. “I hear so often that people don’t speak out on injustice because they think it won’t make a difference, but it will. Everyone deserves to see themselves represented, whether that’s in literature, movies, magazines or in the real world.”

Just-Opposed Magazine Release Party

WHAT: A release party for the independently published arts-and-culture magazine

WHEN: 6-9 p.m. Friday, July 10

WHERE: 309 Punk Project, 309 N. Sixth Ave.

DETAILS: @justopposedzine, @309punkproject