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Post subject: Ark: dad says teen sons traumatized by lesbian sex book
 Posted: Apr 21, 2007 - 09:14 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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... but $20,000 will presumably buy them guide dogs, to replace the eyes they were forced to pluck out...
Quote:
A Bentonville, Arkansas man is demanding the city pay him $20,000 for the pain and suffering of his sons after they discovered a book on lesbian sex in their local library.
"[They were] greatly disturbed" said Earl Adams his letter to the city. "[We had] many sleepless nights in our house."
Well, the sons were 14 and 16, and if they are both "hets", and if they have the stereotypical "het" male reaction to the thought of two gals gettin' it on, I have no doubt there were some "sleepless nights"... I bet there was a lot of strange creaking coming from their room too. 
But anyway, back in stupid-land:
Quote:
Adams wants $10,000 per child, the maximum allowed under the Arkansas obscenity law. Adams also wants the city to fire library director Cindy Suter.
[...]
The book, "The Whole Lesbian Sex Book" by Felice Newman was moved to an inaccessible area of the library after Adams first complained, and then removed altogether following a second complaint from the man. In a letter to Mayor Bob McCaslin, Adams said the book is "patently offensive and lacks any artistic, literary or scientific value."
[...]
The city library board in removing the book said it will look for another volume on lesbians and if something "more appropriate" is not found "The Whole Lesbian Sex Book" will be returned.
"Any effort to reinstate the book will be met with legal action and protests from the Christian community," Adams stated in an e-mail to the Morning News newspaper.
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: May 04, 2007 - 12:57 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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365gay.com interviewed Felice Newman, and
here's a couple of excerpts:
Quote:
365: That he decided to sue the city over this seems ridiculous.
FN: There hasn't been a suit. The dad threatened the city for $20,000. How could he sue? What would be the grounds? What are the dangers here? Teenagers have been finding sexually suggestive material at libraries ever since there have been libraries. Where else are they going to find out about sex if the parents don't give them any information? In my parent's generation, it was National Geographic, with all the scantily clad indigenous people. Before that, it was underwear in the Sears catalogue. Teenagers are always going to be looking for information about sex. At least kids reading my book get solid, comprehensive information they wouldn't get from magazines that create unrealistic expectations about human sexuality.
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365: Is this just a quirky story? Or is there an important message here?
FN: An important point is that this book was pulled from the library. The librarian is going to resign. She says it has nothing to do with this, but one wonders. And so now this book is not in that library, and maybe other libraries will try to preempt this happening by also pulling this book and others that are explicitly about sex, or about gay and lesbian life. The story of the dad and the boys is funny, but the impact is not funny, because when the next generation of 14 year old boys and girls comes up, where will they find the information they need? It might not be there. The library has an email page where you can send an encouraging note of support. I hope people will do that. I hope it will make a difference. [emphasis added]
365: What do you hope gays and lesbians take away from this?
FN: Gays and lesbians need to support libraries and librarians. We need them to be there for us and for the next generation of readers.
Want to follow Felice Newman's suggestion and drop the Bentonville Library a line with a note of support? Here's the e-mail link; fill yer boots...
For snail mail: Bentonville Public Library. 405 S. Main Street Bentonville, Arkansas; by phone: 72712 or fax: (479) 271-6775 |
_________________
"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: May 21, 2007 - 04:29 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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"Reading Rainbow"...
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Last year, due to a parent's complaint, a gay-themed novel called Rainbow Boys was removed from a summer reading list that's issued to high school students in Webster, NY. However, we're happy to report that after a review of the highly decorated, respected book, the Webster School District has rightfully returned the tome to the list of available reading options.
So if Webster students are anything like this writer's high school self, this means they will now be able to leave Reading Rainbow on their shelf all summer long, until realizing two days before school starts that they better skim just enough to right a convincing five paragraph essay. ::sigh:: Youth.
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_________________
"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: May 21, 2007 - 04:33 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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Is this what our kids should be reading?
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Books exploring gay relationships have been introduced to primary schools in Lincolnshire - prompting outrage from a Euro-MP.
UK Independence Party MEP for Lincolnshire, Derek Clark, says he is "shocked, horrified and appalled" that stories featuring same sex couples are being used in lessons for children as young as five. He says the literature, which includes titles such as The Sissy Duckling, Hello Sailor and Daddy's Roommate, amount to "criminal indoctrination".
But county teachers and members of the gay community have hit back hard. They claim the books simply explore the fact that gay people exist in society and that they use the literature as a subtle way of tackling homophobic bullying of children who may have a gay or bisexual parent.
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_________________
"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: May 22, 2007 - 02:20 PM
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Site Admin
Joined: Aug 26, 2006
Posts: 440
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Quote:
UK Independence Party MEP for Lincolnshire, Derek Clark, says he is "shocked, horrified and appalled" that stories featuring same sex couples are being used in lessons for children as young as five. He says the literature, which includes titles such as The Sissy Duckling, Hello Sailor and Daddy's Roommate, amount to "criminal indoctrination".
How lovely. I always thought the opposite is the case. Heterosexuals imposing their agenda upon each and every child - as young as five, or even younger - by any possible means. Remember all those stories about princes who married princesses etc? The heterosexual propaganda in TV and kindergarten is omnipotent. |
Last edited by vanrozenheim on May 23, 2007 - 12:37 AM; edited 1 time in total
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Post subject:
Posted: May 22, 2007 - 09:46 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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Quote:
The heterosexual propaganda in TV and kindergarten is omnipotent.
... or did you mean onipresent? |
_________________
"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: May 22, 2007 - 11:13 PM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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"Shocked, horrified and appalled," he says. What, pray tell, is shocking, horrifying, or appalling about same sex couples? That they are casually normal? I've seen some of these books and they are really rather sweet -- hardly propaganda for anything other than Gay people exist (and we DO exist). There can be nothing 'criminal' in this so-called 'indoctrination' that same-sex couples exist. What I read into Mr. Clark's comments, on the other hand, most assuredly IS criminal (or ought to be, in a perfect world).
Perhaps the Member might apply his rhetoric to a more oppressive and odious problem regarding the 'indoctrination' to be found in children's books. My own brother's family has been filled with turmoil because of a host of books (all quite thoroughly vetted by his children's most Catholic private school) which contain endearing little mice and bugs -- mice and bugs with charming personalities. It seems my brother is of the view that all the mice that find their way into the house must promptly die. His wife is of a similar (if more caustic) view in regards to the bugs. Thanks to these children's books every attempt at extermination is promptly met with howls of juvenile protest worthy of PETA. Indeed, the only pest that is not advocated for by the children is bats. No doubt this is because none of the children's books contain endearing little bats who might want a cookie. Should one appear on the scene, the bats as well will join the ranks of "the friends of little girls" along with the rats in the cellar, the squirrels in the attic, the moles in the lawn, and (of course) the bugs and mice.
Of course, the wee ones have but little political power in their own home. It could be said that they have none at all. Their protests are as completely ineffective as they are ill-advised (though the squirrels are evicted alive, not dead, even though the wee ones insist that the poor dears surely must be cold and so deserve their own room in the house.) Still, there is the noise and disruption, the incipient rebellion and inherent disorder to be considered. The girls did not originate the idea that mice want cookies, that squirrels want feather beds, or that bugs will share outrageous tales of their adventures -- they got these pernicious ideas from those colorful children's books that are foisted upon them by their private school (Imagine it! Nuns subverting a father's authority in his own home! The horror!). Certainly if some thoughtful politician were to bring all this deceptive anthropomorhism to heel the world would be a quieter and more peaceful place.
Then again, my own sister grew up with just such books (though the mice recited poetry rather than begging for cookies) and she is the very avatar of doom when it comes to mice within the house. Maybe these books have little lasting effect and are of far less importance than Mr. Clark imagines. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject:
Posted: May 23, 2007 - 12:49 AM
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Site Admin
Joined: Aug 26, 2006
Posts: 440
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'berto wrote:
Quote:
The heterosexual propaganda in TV and kindergarten is omnipotent.
... or did you mean oni present?
Yes, yes -- it was omnipresent. 
Feral wrote:
Then again, my own sister grew up with just such books (though the mice recited poetry rather than begging for cookies) and she is the very avatar of doom when it comes to mice within the house. Maybe these books have little lasting effect and are of far less importance than Mr. Clark imagines.
Ahem... You mean... Those allegedly "indoctrinated" children might turn to genocide on gays as easily as their grandparents did ever and their parents do now? |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 23, 2007 - 01:32 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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I do indeed.
These histrionic social conservatives seem to be getting themselves into a lather about nothing more than the simple mention of same-sex relationships in public. Oh, it's one thing to 'permit' these creatures to exist in their minds, but quite another for them to be seen to exist. We must know our place, after all, and that place is well out of the public eye (and certainly out of sight of those impressionable children).
It has yet to be seen whether books of this type will have any lasting effect on children's behavior. It could be argued that it surely must. I, however, suspect that it will not have any meaningful effect at all, at least on the straight kids. It seems likely that the Gay kids will at least grow up with a handful of positive images of themselves to place alongside all the images of straight people their heads have been filled with.
Any notions that people might have about these books being "a subtle way of tackling homophobic bullying of children who may have a gay or bisexual parent" are, I am afraid, fantasies.
As fond as I am of Harvey Fierstein, I cannot imagine that The Sissy Duckling will have any more effect on perceptions of 'sissy' behavior than Frederick did on perceptions of the value of poetry. Hello Sailor is, I think, too "thinly veiled' to have any effect at all; one might as well presume that the Hardy Boys Mysteries will turn young minds to Communism, or at least ideas of communal property, which cannot be said to have happened at all. (The lads have peculiar ideas about the availability of Chet's car.) |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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Post subject:
Posted: May 23, 2007 - 01:51 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
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Quote:
The lads have peculiar ideas about the availability of Chet's car.
*ahem* Sorry to be a pedant, but I b'lieve the vehicle in question was unfailingly referred to as a "jalopy"... |
_________________
"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin
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Post subject:
Posted: May 23, 2007 - 02:13 AM
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Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754
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 It WAS indeed -- and a yellow one at that. I had to look the word up when I first encountered it as a youngster, then I had to ask my parents what the definition meant. It was clear to me at the time that perhaps the two sleuths ought to purchase their own car (one that worked well) rather than persistently requisitioning the jalopy that was a poor farm-boy's only link to the rest of the world. Did these books impress upon a couple of generations of youngsters the idea that one friend's automobile was perpetually at the disposal of all? Chet's certainly was. Given that my father and his brothers grew up reading these books as well, I have to say that they have not been all that influenced by them -- their cars were never particularly available in my youth. Then, perhaps it was because none of my uncles owned a jalopy. This, perhaps, made all the difference. |
_________________
"If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more." -- Larry Kramer
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