Today in censorship: Davis County (Utah) School District Bans Books About Gay Families And LGBT Youth

The Davis County School District is now targeting books for children that portray families headed by same-sex parents and a book with the message that bullying of homosexual teenagers is wrong. In Davis County, it seems, book banning based on intolerance is alive and well.

The issue was prompted by a parent’s complaint about an acclaimed book titled In Our Mothers’ House that was chosen by librarians specifically because there are children in the district with two same-sex parents. Librarians, rightly, wanted to make those children feel included and also wanted to help other children understand that various types of families are all acceptable. Totally Joe, about a gay teenager who is bullied, glimpses the suffering of gay teens, who all too often take their own lives.

Now the district is on a witch hunt, asking district librarians to report other books with gay or lesbian characters.

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This IS the 21st century, right? Then why does it feel like the dark ages lately? I guess it feels that way because I am not a bigoted, Christian asshole who hates gays and women's rights.

Stay classy, Utah.

I say we flood 'em with all the LGBT-related books we can obtain.

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michaela

"A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter." -Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

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toomanybrats


This IS the 21st century, right? Then why does it feel like the dark ages lately? I guess it feels that way because I am not a bigoted, Christian asshole who hates gays and women's rights.

As a fiscal conservative yet socially liberal person, I find both parties to be unsuitable.

The Republicans in particular tend to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to people whom they find unacceptable or unworthy, so the extreme-right takes actions like the one you mentioned. By censoring these books they send the message that gays & lesbians don't exist.

Now, I'm not gay. Never have been. Never will be. But gays have a right to exist in society just as anyone else does. The GOP is moving further and further to the right, where if you don't fit into "the mold" you're simply marginalized or ignored.

So what's the mold they're looking for?

-heterosexual
-white
-married
-childed
-live in suburbs or rural area
-live preferably in a red state
-anti-union
-anti-science
-pro-religion
-ultra-supportive of the military and endless war
-in top 5% of all income earners (... or at least on the way to it)

So what about the 98% of Americans who don't fit this mold? We have GOP case by case analysis here...

-homosexual: You are totally undesirable unless you pray the gay away!
-single: eHarmony will help you
-childfree: We can't even fathom why someone would think this way??
-live in city: How can you live near all of those undesirables?
-live in blue state: How can you live near all of those intellectuals?
-pro-union: You're just another leech with unrealistic demands... like living wages, healthcare, etc.
-pro-science: You're just a perpetrator of myths like global warming, evolution, and pretty much every idea and invention that brought us to the modern society we have now.
-secular: You've declared a war on Christmas! You're evil because you don't celebrate every holiday that we do!!!
-war skeptic: You need to "support the troops"... by putting a yellow magnetic ribbon on your car!
-bottom 95% of income earners: Keep slaving away at work... to make us top 5%ers rich!

Ah, Utah. Mormonoid country. Ah, the Mormonoids. Trying to cram their versions of "family values" down everyone else's throats. Ah, family values. Just like those of Mormonoid candidate for President Mitt Romney.

The Presidential election of 2012 is going to suck big-time. No reason to like any of the people running... But it would seem that a vote for Romney is indirectly a vote for more of the kind of censorship that this Utah school district is conducting. I didn't know that censorship was a family value. Ah, I see. It's to protect the chyldren. Ah, fuck the Mormonoid chyldren.

Sorry, folks. Lousy day...