Posted on 04/09/2023 12:36:56 PM PDT by Ennis85
When we were children my mother would bring me and my sister to our local library every Saturday. We were allowed to take out two books of our own choosing (usually The Baby-sitters Club which my mother thought was cute, or one of the Sweet Valley High series, which she said was trash) and then the third book had to be what she deemed a classic: The Secret Garden, Tom’s Midnight Garden, A Little Princess and so on. When I turned 12 she took me down the steps from the children’s section of the library to the adult section and told me this was where I would be borrowing books from now on. There was no policing of what I was reading, no checking to see if it was “suitable” or age-appropriate. She was simply glad that I shared her love of literature. I have so many happy memories of sitting in that library, a book in my lap and the sound of the river rushing past outside. I felt safe there.
So it was with great dismay that I read about several incidents across Ireland where protesters have tried to remove LGBTQ books from library shelves. In March there were reports that library staff in Cork had been subjected to “paedophile slurs” and verbal abuse, with one protester ripping up a copy of This Book Is Gay, a nonfiction book by Juno Dawson that explores issues around sex, politics and dating as a queer teenager. Dawson’s book is one of many that have been highlighted, alongside Yay! You’re Gay! Now What? by Riyadh Khalaf, and Trans Teen Survival Guide by Owl and Fox Fisher. Groups claim that these books violate the Children First Act and that they “promote gender ideology and pornography”. The Local Government Management Agency, which is in charge of Irish libraries, denied this, saying that “library collections are curated by librarians with professional expertise . . . this includes categorising books by age”.
The agency also said that parents and guardians “play a fundamental role in guiding their children’s reading and library use”. Despite this, several reports have been filed in garda stations across Dublin, and library staff now receive training in how to deal with protests, with instructions to alert the gardai and secure buildings if things get out of hand.
We have seen similar scenes play out in the US. Apparently when America sneezes, the rest of the world has to begin sniffling. But it feels particularly egregious to see this happening in Ireland, given this country’s ignominious history of censorship — Edna O’Brien would like a word, please.
As the LGMA said, these books were in the young adult section, they were not being handed out to eight-year-olds. And even if a younger child was to get their hands on one, I think we underestimate how effective children are at self-filtering; they can tell if a book is too advanced for them (something I learnt in 1992 when, aged seven, I picked up a copy of VC Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic in a holiday home on the Aran Islands).
Unfortunately, most young adults today are not learning about sex and sexuality in schools or in libraries; most of their education on these matters is gleaned from pornography. It would seem obvious to me that any concerned parent would rather their child read a book that handles these topics in a responsible way than being exposed to hardcore material on PornHub or YouPorn, which is often violent and deeply misogynistic.
It is ironic that the protesters say texts such as This Book Is Gay could be used to “groom” children when studies show that sex education actually helps prevent child sexual abuse — an informed child is a safe child.
Do these people not want children to be safe? Or is it specifically LGBTQ children whose safety they want to jeopardise?
A 2016 study found that LGBTQ teenagers were twice as likely to self-harm and three times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. By providing a mirror in which these teenagers can see themselves reflected, books like these are literally saving lives. Why would we want to take that away from young readers?
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1034938/posts?page=53
"Myth: The mental and emotional problems that homosexuals experience are due to the straight community’s persecution and intolerance of their lifestyle.
Reality: If this were true, then one would expect to find lower rates of suicide and mental illness among homosexuals in areas where homosexuality has been mainstreamed and widely accepted for decades (i.e., San Francisco, European countries, particularly the Netherlands). However, research shows that there is no reduction in the rates of suicide, mental illness, substance abuse, alcoholism, and homosexual domestic violence in areas where homosexuality is more widely accepted. High rates of emotional trauma in homosexuals are not induced by society but rather are the result of deviant behavior that assaults the emotional and physical health, of those who engage in homosexual sex."
I heard the same argument from a neighbor — “What’s wrong with teaching children about safe sex? Why do you want to ban the word ‘gay’?”
This author (Louise) and my neighbor are incredibly ill-informed about what is in these library books.
Tired of the “children will kill themselves if you don’t do what we want.”
It wasn’t too long ago that they were assuring us that they weren’t teaching this mess in schools.
Women like Louise have such open minds that much falls out.
Homosexual acts should be illegal everywhere.
Now it seems that they're not teaching anything else.
A brief summary of the homosexual movement:
We only want to be left alone, it’s not like we want to marry.
We only want to marry, it’s not like we want to adopt children.
We only want to adopt, it’s not like we want to tell you how to raise your kids.
We only want to teach your kids to accept us, it’s not like we want to molest them.
Your kids are our playthings, be happy we have no intention of putting you in reeducation camps.
Report to the camps....
I miss the 40's and 50's when these 'people' were dealt with in a way they should.......nuff said.
Conservatism’s lack of actual fight against the Democrats has brought us to this stage.
yet we have people here that preach It’s the answer to all.
If people gave a damn 70 years ago, we would not be in this mess.
LGBTQ teenagers are more likely to self-harm and attempt suicide because they are mentally ill. "Providing a mirror" does not help them, it only reinforces this mental illness.
Maybe you should get the copy at the local library and let Louise look though it.
Do school libraries stock lots of heterosexual pornography or “instruction manuals” for children? If so, when did that start? Who decided that sexualizing children was acceptable?
Destroy books? No, a lie, nobody is doing that.
Restricting them to adults only, not destroying them.
Of course they know this, but they’re trying to fool people.
Do we destroy alcohol because we won’t let teens use it? Cigarettes? Driving cars at 8 YO? Not voting until 18? Registering with Selective Service? And for the Left, handguns?
Much in life is restricted to adults.
We should have always been enforcing that.
Once we let the camel get his nose under the tent, he walked right in and sh!t all over the place.
We were warned.
For the second line you could insert “We don’t want marriage, we only want civil unions so we can visit our loved ones in the hospital.”
Homosexuality used to be outlawed in this country for a very good reason.
What reason was that? Lock up the pedophiles, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, and let God and society sort out what consenting adults do behind closed doors.
Let’s not give our already bloated and tyrannical government more power over people’s lives.
The headline is a lie. No one is trying to “destroy” any books. We are trying to have an adult discussion about if these books are appropriate for children.
As adults can read whatever you want to. But what you don’t get to do is hand this stuff to children without the full knowledge and consent of the parents.
That’s not negotiable.
L
“Who decided that sexualizing children was acceptable?”
They did. If if you so much as twitch an objection they’ll destroy you.
Any more questions, prole?
L
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