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Meanwhile, Back in West Bend

Abstract: Library flap: do books make people gay?

On Tuesday March 3, our far-flung reporter tried to attend a meeting of the board for the West Bend Community Memorial Library in West Bend, WI, a town of about 30,000 residents approximately 40 miles northwest of Milwaukee. On the agenda for the Tuesday meeting was a complaint from two West Bend residents about books for youth addressing homosexuality:
We find the books for youth on homosexuality to be biased, gay-affirming, promotional and romanticized. We believe our library should be offering appropriate, wholesome literature to our youth instead of pursuing the illegitimate goals of transforming the views of other people's children on the contentious issue of homosexuality.
More information about the complaint is available from blog postings.
The complaint asks that the library provide access to "faith-based" books and books that "oppose a pro-homosexual ideology." It also asks that the library either remove or restrict access to a web page that lists books about LGBT topics for youth. In addition, there are objections to specific books as pornographic.
Interest in the library discussion was high and the board meeting was moved to the West Bend City Hall, a larger venue. Apparently word had also spread that the meeting might be newsworthy, and Milwaukee news media were heavily represented. After some delays and a head count by local police, it was determined that the crowd that had gathered was larger than the 265-person capacity of the city hall chambers. The meeting was canceled and everyone sent home.
There is no word yet on a new date for the meeting. Perhaps there's still time for West Bend to borrow San Francisco's jumbotron.

(Vol. III, xvii March 5, 2009 )

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