Gay book pulled off reading list

[dude]

Gay book pulled off reading list

Bennett J. Loudon

Staff writer

(August 24, 2006) ? WEBSTER ? Webster Central School District officials have removed a gay-themed book from a summer reading list for high school students after receiving complaints from parents.

The book, Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez, which was released in 2001, is about gay teen life. It won the International Reading Association's 2003 Young Adults' Choice award, and the American Library Association selected it as a Best Book for Young Adults.

Sanchez was the star of the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival at Fairport High School in April, which was attended by about 500 youths.

The book has faced similar challenges at municipal and school libraries across the United States.

"Parents know that it's our job to look out for their children and I think parents trust the Webster school district that we would always have their children's interests first in mind," said Ellen Agostinelli, Webster's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

Agostinelli said she got some telephone calls from parents complaining about the book but would not say how many. She said district officials are just starting a review of the reading list of about 200 books and she decided to pull the book until the entire list could be reviewed.

The timeframe for that review and the criteria that will be used have not been determined, she said.

"I read it and I have some questions about it, as well," Agostinelli said.

The gay theme is not one of her concerns, but Agostinelli declined to say what is.

"I'm not going to get into this," she said.

This is the second year students in middle and high school have been required to read two books from the list during the summer and submit reports when they return to school.

The book list was created by school librarians and English teachers.

Agostinelli said it has not been decided if any public meetings will be scheduled for discussions of the topic.

Rainbow Boys was not removed from the district's libraries. But Ove Overmyer, a library assistant at the Rochester Public Library, is concerned that purging a book from a reading list is a precursor to having it taken from the shelves.

"It starts with book challenges and then they'll ask to have the book removed. We've seen this process before all over the country, especially when it deals with gay-oriented literature. It's censorship plain and simple, and there's no place for it in the school district or in the public library system," Overmyer said.

Kris Hinesley, executive director of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, said "It's important for youth to have this story available to them whether or not they choose to read it."

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens are at a much higher risk of committing suicide, she said.

"A prevention strategy is to give them positive messages, which you can find in this book," she said.

BLOUDON@DemocratandChronicle.com

[JamesSavik]

Gay book pulled off reading list

The book, Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez, which was released in 2001, is about gay teen life. It won the International Reading Association's 2003 Young Adults' Choice award, and the American Library Association selected it as a Best Book for Young Adults.

Sanchez was the star of the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival at Fairport High School in April, which was attended by about 500 youths.

Ok- THIS is a pet peeve of mine. HOW IS A BOOK GAY!?

A book may have a gay character or characters, be about gay characters, it may have gay issues in the plot line, or it may a scholarly study of homosexuality pro or con BUT A BOOK CAN NOT BE GAY!!!

This is censorship pure and simple. Put a label on it, tag it and, throw it in the fire. It doesn't matter the quality of the book, if it is well written, or poorly written, age appropriate or horribly inappropriate- as long as it gets the GAY label, it is bound for the shredder.

I call myself a gay author but I don't write gay stories. I write stories that have gay characters, I write stories that have no gay characters. I write to tell a story and try to do it well. If I have an agenda it is to reveal a viewpoint that is forgotten or neglected. Maybe the reader will like it, maybe not; they can quit any time they want and there's plenty of other stuff to read.

I bristle at the idea that some yahoo has the power to ban my work or anyone Else's out of hand. Who died and made this butt head pope anyway?

School Boards are really feeling their oats these days. A week ago a school board banned the formation of a GSA with out comment or discussion. How does anything get done these days without comment or discussion? That's the way dictatorships work: by dick-heads dictating.

If you ask me the real threat to democracy in the US isn't some flea bitten mullah holed up in a cave. It comes from petty, bureaucratic little shits who have a little power and enjoy it far too much.

[Trab]

""Parents know that it's our job to look out for their children and I think parents trust the Webster school district that we would always have their children's interests first in mind," said Ellen Agostinelli, Webster's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "

Bull Sh_t! EDUCATION is supposed to be the prime thing in school, and banning books is not contributing to that. Furthermore, even is banning a book would do that, they are completely ignoring those kids who are gay, and need to have access to this type of reading material, although whether or not they need it more than the homophobes is anyone's guess.

Petty bureaucrates who enjoy power way too much? How about senior elected officials who enjoy power way too much? The contempt is being condoned and encouraged from 'way on high'.

[colinian]

jamessavik wrote:

If you ask me the real threat to democracy in the US isn't some flea bitten mullah holed up in a cave. It comes from petty, bureaucratic little shits who have a little power and enjoy it far too much.

I disagree. The greatest threat to democracy in the US comes from those Evangelical Christians who are pressing an anti-gay agenda of hate. They are as bad as the mullahs who press the Sunni versus Shi'a sectarian hate in Iraq. IMO, it's a religious war. And gays are just the current target.

Colin

[Graeme]

I'm going to put my two cents worth in (Australian, which is currently worth less than the USA variety).

Firstly, I think the actions of the Webster Central School District officials is wrong. We are talking High School students here, which, as I understand it, means ages 13+. That's old enough for the people concerned to pick for themselves which books they want to read and study.

However, as the parent of two boys, aged five and seven, there IS inappropriate material that they should not be exposed to. I would be unhappy with the school if they didn't take some sort of action. The question becomes at what age that responsibility moves from the school to the child, and that's a difficult one. As a general rule, USA High School students should be able to do that, though middle school is more questionable.

Some form of censorship IS appropriate for young children, and anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves (in my opinion). Once you agree to that, you have the difficult situation of deciding when that censorship stops being appropriate -- and that is very subjective and not easily discernable (as it's a maturity issue, not an age).

[DesDownunder]

That's the way dictatorships work: by dick-heads dictating.

Dickheads dictating - I like that.

Dickhead; definition (mine): A dickhead is some one who has forgotten how to masturbate and plays with their brain instead. The results of course are nowhere near as interesting, but are mostly messier, (for the rest of us). Dickheads do seem to be prominent in positions of power such as petty bureaucrats and senior elected officials.

To Graeme's 2 cents worth (more Aussie cents makes sense),

I would add the common occurrence of our Aussie High-school teachers setting their under 18 year-old students, movies to study, that have been legally classified as "Restricted to persons over the age of 18."

This is somewhat bizarre, whatever your stand on censorship.

I think Graeme's comments have much common sense.

The trouble with common sense is that it is not very common at all.

Then again the dickheads seem to be trying to stop us from being common with each other, even when we are over 18.

[JamesSavik]

Colinian: Oh- I'm right there with you when it comes to fundamentalist (note the root word: mental). During the eighties they organized themselves at the grass-roots level and make a point out of stacking appointed positions like school boards and providing significant funding to candidates at the local level. They define their efforts in terms of a Culture War.

Graeme: We are in complete agreement about censoring things that little kids see. When it comes to Jr/Sr high school level, the information needs to be there or at least be available. As much as many parents would like their kids to be asexual until they turn 18, that just isn't realistic. The consequences of ignorance have changed. What you don't know won't hurt you has become what you don't know can have deadly consequences.

DesDownUnder: I agree with you about common sense being so rare.

[E.J.]

Webster Central School District H. School Summer Reading List (all 21 pages)

Webster Central School District Middle School Summer Reading List

[DesDownunder]

Colinian: Oh- I'm right there with you when it comes to fundamentalist (note the root word: mental

Fundamentalist,

Fun: what is that?,

Fund: money did someone say money?

-da: couldn't say it better dah,

-mental: seems right,

Don't you just love English?

[Kel]

Follow up article:

Author decries removal of gay-themed book

Democrat & Chronicle

Bennett J. Loudon, Staff writer

(August 29, 2006) ? WEBSTER ? The author of a gay-themed book removed from a high school summer reading list because of complaints from parents called the decision "un-American" and "wrong."

Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez, was removed from the list of about 200 books earlier this month by Webster Central School District officials. The book was not removed from the school library.

Released in 2001, the book about gay teen life won the International Reading Association's 2003 Young Adults' Choice award and the American Library Association selected it as a Best Book for Young Adults.

This is the second year Webster students in middle and high school have been required to read two books during the summer and submit reports when they return to school. The separate book lists for middle school and high school students were created by school librarians and English teachers.

Webster Superintendent Adele Bovard said officials regret that Mr. Sanchez has rushed to judgment about the Webster School District.

"No book has been banned from our library and there is a process in place for a student to read a book that is not on the list," Bovard said.

The book was not removed from the reading list because of the gay theme, but because of explicit sexual content, she said.

Sanchez, in response to questions posed via e-mail, said it pains him when he hears about individuals attempting to block others from reading a book.

"That's un-American. And it's wrong.

"Fortunately, we live in a country where freedom of speech and thought are cherished values. Every attempt to censor a book is an attack on our constitutional freedoms."

Asked what his message would be for school administrators, Sanchez wrote:

"I hope that they'll respect the judgment of the professional educators who assembled the summer reading list. If a parent does not want his or her own child to read a particular book, I fail to see how such individuals should have the right to determine what the children of other parents' should read."

BLOUDON@DemocratandChronicle.com