Lawmaker doesn't want novels with gay characters in public libraries

[matcom]

:eyes:

<snip>

MONTGOMERY - An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries.

A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for "the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the "homosexual agenda."

"Our culture, how we know it today, is under attack from every angle," Allen said in a press conference Tuesday.

Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed.

"I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them," he said.

A spokesman for the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center called the bill censorship.

"It sounds like Nazi book burning to me," said SPLC spokesman Mark Potok.

Allen pre-filed his bill in advance of the 2005 legislative session, which begins Feb. 1.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1101896768316400.xml

[LisaLynne]

1. That makes me want to donate ...

a copy of Lynn Cheney's novel to my local library.

[tk2kewl]

3. LoL!

this guy is trying so hard to keep that closet door of his shut

[tavalon]

2. Not to quibble

but this sounds like book burying rather than book burning, however, the endpoint is dangerous censorship which is, as a matter of fact, almost always a dangerous facet of fascism. Like the fascism that is now roaring across our once great land.

[non sociopath skin]

4. Maybe he should be sent on a Civic Visit here ...

... to Newcastle upon Tyne where the Central Public Library has a specialised Gay & Lesbian section. As, of course, has the largest bookstore.

The Skin

[htuttle]

5. Wonder if they are going to end up banning the work of gay scientists, too

on edit:

And you know, I'm DAMNED TIRED of having to change everything because SOME Republican fundies have poor impulse control.

Just because gays exist, doesn't mean you HAVE to have gay sex! Keep it in your pants unless you're comfortable with it, boys... We shouldn't be forced to 'fundie-proof' the world for them!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. Great! NO COMPUTERS!

Alan Turing (1912-1954)

[gratuitous]

6. Absolutely!

Now, how are we going to decide if a character is gay? Can't be too careful, you know. Sure, there are books where a character is identified right on the page as being of a homosexual persuasion, but there are a lot of books where it's kind of ambiguous. Take that David fella in the Bible. There are a lot of suspicious-looking passages about him and his friendship with Jonathan. And that Jesus guy? The one who, at the last supper, sat with the head of his beloved disciple on his chest? Looks like there might have been a little swish in the sandals there!

Better safe than sorry, says I. Toss that Bible in the hole, too.

[asjr]

14. There is a lot of sex in the Bible too. I wonder if he will have it

banned.

[Bertha Venation]

22. If the story of David and Jonathan were published today in a different

context, this asshole would include it in his "righteous" ban.

Jesus Christ, people. Live and let live.

[underpants]

7. I have to admit that he is right

"Our culture, how we know it today, is under attack from every angle,"

FROM THEM!!!

[snippy]

8. This is what happens when people vote republican.

This situation also provides an excellent illustration of the differences in the political strategies and tactics of the two major parties.

A few democrats may mention this briefly if at all and paint Allen as an isolated and extreme politician who only happens to be a republican. No connection to the republican party will be drawn or emphasized despite the fact that this story easily could be about many powerful republicans. The story will have a life measured in hours.

If a democrat had done something like this, republican talking points would go out to the entire country with instructions to describe the offending democrat as the typical democrat doing what democrats always do. Every democrat appearing on TV in the next several days would be forced to comment on the matter rather than staying on whatever message the democrat had intended to focus on. Within a matter of days republicans would have convinced tens of millions of people that every democrat has a firm policy of censoring books they disagree with. This false impression would be reinforced by the republican party for years.

All democrats, including politicians, pundits and every day people, need to point out this is what happens when people vote republican.

[tandot]

9. "If we get rid of 'gay' books, all gays will immediately turn straight"

Nothing better in the morning than to get a glimpse of the simple mind of a homophobic asshole.

No wonder they voted for Bush. They are as stupid as the ignorant moron they've elected. The bad thing is that those idiots make us all the laughingstock of the entire world. How utterly embarrassing.

[dolo amber]

10. Well...*I* don't want ignorant intolerant lawmakers in legislatures

Looks like we got us a standoff here, boys...:smoke:

[CornField]

11. "Our culture, how we know it today, is under attack from every angle,"

I guess everybody has got to be right at least part of the time.

Idiots. I was hoping we have moved past the stage of book burning.

[BiggJawn]

28. Especially the "Fundy Angle"...

Damn beards itch and I think I'd look stupid in those baggy pants...
And my girlfriend don't do Burkhas...

[RagingInMiami]

12. What about gay authors?

So does that mean they're going to get rid of books by Oscar Wilde and countless other brilliant writers?

[northzax]

34. oh, sure

don't you think Oscar Wilde shold be first on the list of banned gay authors? I mean you can't really get any more obvious than that. luckily, this idiot probably hasn't actually read any of these 'gay' books, so we're off the hook.

[Beer Snob-50]

13. The Homosexual Agenda..

"if you ain't gay, you cannot stay!"

[mac56]

15. ... to protect children from the "homosexual agenda"...

My God!!! Think of the children, people!!!

/sarcasm

[LDS Jock]

16. What about gay TV?

Will "Will And Grace" be banned off cable? Ellen DeGeneres show be off the morning talk show schedule? Gays must be totally banished to save society.

[underpants]

18. Sheppard Smith off Fox

n/t

[LDS Jock]

23. and Anderson Cooper too n/t

[flyingfysh]

17. this would ban Proust

This would ban "Remembrance of Things Past" (the usual English translation of the title), perhaps the greatest novel of all time.

Can you imagine a university library unable to carry this book?

[BurtWorm]

20. No more Moby Dick. No more Leaves of Grass. No more Plato.

None of these:


http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/reviews/080398re.htm

1 Ulysses by James Joyce (minor gay character)

4 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (minor lesbian and gay characters)

12 The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler (minor gay character)

15 To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 15 (minor lesbian character)

17 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCuller (minor gay character)

21 Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow (minor gay character)

23 U.S.A. Trilogy by John Dos Passos (minor gay character)

24 Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (minor gay character)

28 Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (minor gay and lesbian characters)

38 Howard's End by E. M. Forster (latent lesbian character)

42 Deliverance by James Dickey (minor gay character)

43 Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell (minor lesbian and gay)

44 Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley (latent lesbian character)

48 The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence (minor lesbian and gay characters)

49 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence (major gay character)

50 Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (minor lesbian character)

51 The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer (minor gay character)

53 Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (minor gay character)

62 From Here to Eternity by James Jones (minor gay character)

63 The Wapshot Chronicles by John Cheever (minor gay character)

64 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (minor gay character)

70 The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durell (major lesbian and gay)

80 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (minor gay character)

81 The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (minor gay character)

Also worth mentioning (in my opinion) are I, Claudius by Robert Graves (# 14); On the Road by Jack Kerouac (# 55); and The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (# 97).

[non sociopath skin]

25. Rep. Gerald Allen sez...

Plato? Ain't that Mickey Mouse's dog? Sure din't know he wez gay!!!

The Skin

[moggie]

26. And?

You think the nutjobs would regard that as a bad thing? Take Lolita, for example: to you and me it may be an excellent book, possibly one of the top 100 in 20th century American literature, but to the book-burners it's just smut. Or (worse!) it makes you think.

[BurtWorm]

41. Yeah, but what about Plato?

Of course, Plato was a godless heathen. Never mind. :evilfrown:

[Flammable Materials]

19. Throw out the Bible, then.

David and Jonathan? Gay.

Gay.

Guh-hay-hay!

*snap snap snap*

[northzax]

35. and how bout that Sampson?

all here cared about was his hair, if that don't qualify him for a spot on Queer Eye, I don't know what does.

[sniffa]

21. so "mandate" mags wiLL be puLLed?

noooooooooooooo

[MissMillie]

27. Here's a good rebuttal

"Our constitution, as we know it today and it has been for more than 200 years, is under attack from every angle."

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

29. Good - No More Batman

That damn Robin was forcing me to have unclean thoughts.

[Beetwasher]

30. They're NOT FASCISTS I Tell You!

So stop saying that and comparing these fucking pigs to Nazi's!! They haven't murdered 6 million jews yet so Nazi comparisons are crazy!!! After they murder 6 million jews THEN we can call them Nazis!!!!

[Midlodemocrat]

33. No, not six million Jews

only about 100,000 Iraqis. Well on their way.

[moggie]

36. What were the Nazis before the Holocaust?

Fascism predates the Holocaust, you know. The Doctrine of Fascism was published in Italy in 1932, and the first volume of Mein Kampf was published in 1925. The Nazis were a force to be reckoned with in Germany from 1930. Do you think European fascists were all pussycats before WW2?

[Beetwasher]

38. Head, Meet Sarcasm

Yes, I know, I was being sarcastic.

[moggie]

39. Sigh

Shoulda known that. The similarity to Bob Boudelang gives the game away.:dunce:

[Misunderestimator]

31. Bye Bye Virginia Woolf and Gertrude Stein

Apparently, you're only welcome in France now.

[Kber]

32. Why stop there?

What about banning books that have non christian characters or communists? What about other "anti-family" issues like divorce, adultery, single parents and deliberate childlessness? What about working mothers - that can't be a good influence on the children right?

And why are we only banning fictional works? What about historical figures that were gay? If kids know that you can be gay AND accomplished, what kind of can of worms are we opening there?

And obviously, as stated above, the bible is unsuitable and even dangerous in the wrong hands. We must return to the days when access to religious texts were strictly controlled by an educated elite who can "interpret" them for the common people. Ban all English versions - Latin only from now on.

/sarcasm

[noonwitch]

37. Well, so much for Lynne Cheney's novel being in that library system!

Hopefully, "Lady Chatterly's Lover" will still be available.

[MsAnthropy]

40. I didn't know they HAD books in Alabama

will wonders never cease?

[moggie]

43. Of course they do!

And they have crayons for them!

[Bouncy Ball]

42. And yet they seem to believe

that liberals want to ban the Bible.

What exactly are these people so terrified of? Society is not under attack from the GLBT community, but it sure makes for good rhetoric, doesn't it?