Feb 18 2008
Gay Penguins = Dangerous Book
Many of you may have heard of this book “And Tango Makes Three”. It is a children’s book based on a real story about two penguins in the Central Park Zoo in New York. I guess what happened in real life was that two penguins were observed trying to “hatch” a rock. When the zoo keepers understood what was happening they took an extra egg from another penguin and allowed these two male penguins to hatch the egg.
The book was written to show young readers that non-traditional families exist and that they are acceptable. The book has won numerous awards. School officials in Loudoun County, Virginia did not find it award winning material though. They banned it from the library.
Via Fox News
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Feb 18, 2008 @ 22:54:05
ah, good ole Fox News. Anyway, I like living dangerously, I think I’ll see if my library has it. . . checking…and they do! Almost all of them are checked in, too, which is good because then I’ll get my copy faster.
Feb 18, 2008 @ 22:58:52
Isn’t it always true that even “bad” publicity is good publicity!
Feb 18, 2008 @ 23:15:06
Didn’t you know? Virginia is (not) for lovers. :(
Feb 18, 2008 @ 23:23:25
Are you referring to Loving v. Virginia? At least the Penguins were of the same race.
Feb 19, 2008 @ 00:56:25
I’m ordering it for my daughter. Take that, VA! Censorship should be banned.
Feb 19, 2008 @ 01:10:51
I thought the same thing as Sula when I read about this book being removed, yet AGAIN. It’s a reference to the tourism/travel line Virginia touts: Virginia is for Lovers: Vacation in Virginia.
Feb 19, 2008 @ 09:34:54
That’s a real shame. Not everything relates back to sex… Sheesh. Nature will do what it takes to survive. Or did they miss that point?
Feb 19, 2008 @ 11:24:15
You know, I hadn’t heard about this before. This makes me so glad I live where I do.
Feb 19, 2008 @ 12:22:38
Yeah, I meant it as a play on the “Virginia is for lovers” line they use to sell tourism here. Perhaps Loudoun County schools are just trying to keep in line with that ‘defense of marriage’ act that was passed a few years back? Apparently, only the right kind of lovers need apply.
Feb 19, 2008 @ 18:21:07
I’m ashamed to say I live in Virginia but at least I don’t live in Loudon County.
Feb 20, 2008 @ 10:37:46
Most challenged book of 2006, according to the ALA…
(And here’s a graph of “Types of Challenges” during the first half of this decade.)
(Mostly a lurker here, but I happened upon these while prepping for a class I taught last year, and thought them fascinating (in the headdesky kind of way).)
Here we go again… « BBGNY Blog
Feb 20, 2008 @ 14:02:56
[...] 20, 2008 · No Comments From Dear Author comes the latest story of the library police banning objectionable books. This time, it involves a [...]