So you are saying that I can't ban or censor homosexuals, as well as gay literature, from our military?
Posted on 12/01/2004 3:48:43 PM PST by pete anderson
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.
If the bill became law, public school textbooks could not present homosexuality as a genetic trait and public libraries couldn't offer books with gay or bisexual characters.
When asked about Tennessee Williams' southern classic "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," Allen said the play probably couldn't be performed by university theater groups.
Allen said no state funds should be used to pay for materials that foster homosexuality. He said that would include nonfiction books that suggest homosexuality is acceptable and fiction novels with gay characters. While that would ban books like "Heather has Two Mommies," it could also include classic and popular novels with gay characters such as "The Color Purple," "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Brideshead Revisted."
The bill also would ban materials that recognize or promote a lifestyle or actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws of Alabama. Allen said that meant books with heterosexual couples committing those acts likely would be banned, too.
His bill also would prohibit a teacher from handing out materials or bringing in a classroom speaker who suggested homosexuality was OK, he said.
Allen has sponsored legislation to make a gay marriage ban part of the Alabama Constitution, but it was not approved by the Legislature.
Ken Baker, a board member of Equality Alabama, a gay rights organization, said Allen was "attempting to become the George Wallace of homosexuality."
Aside from the moral debates, the bill could be problematic for library collections, said Jaunita Owes, director of the Montgomery City-County Library, which is a few blocks from the Alabama Capitol.
"Half the books in the library could end up being banned. It's all based on how one interprets the material," Owes said.
E-mail: kchandler@bhamnews.com
The bill is vague, it discriminates based on content, and it lacks any compelling state interest to justify state censorship.
If you think that the public funding doesn't equal a ban and therefore it's OK, try banning public funds based on race or gender or some other unconstitutional distinction. For example: "... that recognize or promote Catholicism as an acceptable lifestyle." Or try eliminating funds for Darwinism. Yeah. That'll pass Constitutional muster.
Ping.
So you'd even let your children read a book by a professed sodomite? That's unfortunate for your children.
Well, he is wrong to use a large blanket like "homosexual characters". The won't go away because Alabama won't carry books with them in it.
If he wanted to screen textbooks along the lines now done in Texas and eliminate homosexual relationships being discussed as normal and something kids should see as an experience not much different from a one man one woman relationship, that would be OK with me.
Won't be any more fence riders.
And as an adult, I do not wish to have some pinhead bureaucrat in DC approving my reading list.
So you are saying that I can't ban or censor homosexuals, as well as gay literature, from our military?
Sort of. The federal government has more than what is strictly given to it: how do you "strictly" regulate interstate commerce and provide for the general welfare? Also, for instance, stealing mail is a federal crime, even though the Constitution doesn't specify that the federal government can criminalize the stealing of mail, only that the federal government can create a postal service.
States have the right to protect it citizens from sodomite literature.
Wrong. The Constitution, between the 1st and 14th amendments, gives individuals the right to free speech. Since this right comes from the Constitution, it cannot be infringed by federal, state or local governments.
Second, the subject of the article I'm commenting on is not a D.C. bureaucrat, but rather a state legislator from Alabama. One thing you need to pass on to your children is not only the importance of reading, but comprehension as well. Skim reading is a bad habit.
Third, enjoy your libertarian view of life while it lasts. Until then, you're free to expose your little charges to whatever filth you want.
No, I did not say that. I said that the state bill in question wouldn't pass Constitutional muster. The military operates under different rules and has a different level of scrutiny by the Courts.
If you find it necessary to put words in my mouth, that's a clear indication you've lost the debate.
If you can't ban 'em, kill 'em. Marvelous. Question: What 20th Century world figure put homosexuals in concentration camps?
How about the US Supreme Court, do you think they would side if this case was on their docket?
I have had the pleasure of voting for George W. Bush eight times and do not recall his saying that these books should be pulled off the shelves.
If the Supreme Court and the President do not believe in censorship does that mean that they are Libertarians also?
There are worse things than dying to preserve something you believe in. If the sodomites and their apologists feel so strongly about their right to poison impressionable minds, surely they will have the strength to defend their position with force if necessary.
Which is why I say focus this on elementary and below highschool.
I believe the objective is to adress the homo-propaganda targeted to children like heather has two momies or dadies or whatever.
I never thought of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Filth."
Would it be okay with you if my daughter read "The Scarlet Letter?"
How about if my son read "A Streetcar Named Desire?" Would that be okay with you? Wow, "Streetcar" not only covers homosexuality but also rape! I have each of the above mentioned books in my own library, I hope no one wants to burn down my house!
We'll have to wait and see what kind of justices Dubya is able to successfully put forward. I would enjoy seeing some of the 'rights' that have been granted by leftist courts overturned.
I'll say it again. This nation needs a good purging, and if it cannot be handled peaceably through our established government, then perhaps a good portion of the citizenry will rise up to ensure its success.
I asked my 10 year old the difference between Democrats and Republicans and she said, "Republicans take responsibility for themselves and Democrats do not want to take responsibility for themselves!"
I thought she was right, but after reading posts from all the Nanny State Advocates I have my doubts.
I thought the gay activists were over the top for considering everyone in history gay, but this is even more so. Tennessee Williams is the only gay writer in the list, but I don't recall any sodomy in "Streetcar," nor as I recally in any of these books. Or are we talking about some other books?
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