West Bend Library celebrates....GAY HISTORY MONTH?

Now, generally the West Bend Community Memorial Library runs nice little pieces in the West Bend Daily News showcasing book recommendations and activities.  I must have missed the article on GLBTQ Month.  Oh, wait.  I don't think our library publicized that.  But it is certainly there for all your kids to see.  Book after book of homosexual YA selections.  Books with sexually explicit materials right there, enticing your child.  My, we have gotten bold, haven't we?  I know that the "A" word is a bit harsh, but I have to say it.  It appears our library is doing what we thought all along. Advocating.  

Here we have something more than just literature.  We have advertising (another "A" word) for the Trevor Helpline for GLBTQ youth/minors.  (For those who don't know the code, GLBTQ stands for gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/questioning.)

Here's a YA (young adult) homosexual book being encouraged to minors in the Gay History Month display:

These are all Young Adult homosexual books for minors.  Do I sense another "A" word coming on?  

Could it be........agenda?

This Facebook info states the primary mission of the group is to "promote" GLBTQ information.  Indeed.  And our library just happens to facilitate!

Let's toss in homosexual materials for the little children, too.  You know, the ones that can't even read yet.

How about exposing those bullied celebrities, too.  Really get our point across.  Nice display, YA Zone!

So here you have it....many of the sexually explicit books not only in your YA Zone, but promoted by your very own library.  

Parents, please accompany your children and know what is being shoved in their faces.  Realize that your library is NOT A SAFE PLACE.  Children are being exploited every day, and not just on the streets, in the inner cities, or on school playgrounds.  It's right in your own public library.  BE FOREWARNED.


Naturally, the "H" word and "B" word will be slung my way shortly.  (homophobe and bigot)  Not so, dear ones.  I just have an aversion to pornographic sex acts being shotgunned out to minor children.  You know, like most of the nation.  The ones that actually use ratings to alert parents to impending inappropriate materials.  But we wouldn't want to step on a minors "right" to free speech, now, would we?  ;-)

PFOX explains need for balance of materials on ex-gays

Sent to Editor, WB News/Library Board:

As an ex-gay, I share my testimony to eliminate negative perceptions and discrimination against former homosexuals. I understand that some are asking for a balance of books on the controversial issue of homosexuality, as well as other hot-topic issues. I’d like to address that issue.

No scientific evidence has established a genetic cause for homosexuality or found a “gay gene.” There is no medical or DNA test to determine if a person is homosexual. “Gay” is a self-chosen identity to publicly demonstrate an individual’s conformity with homosexual behavior. According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are no replicated scientific studies to support that people can be born “gay” or that homosexuality is innate.

Teens should not be encouraged to self-identify as “gay” before they have matured. Once a child self-identifies as “gay,” he is stuck with that label because gay activists and other heterophobic influences refuse to acknowledge that an individual can leave homosexuality. Additionally, “research shows that the risk of suicide decreases by 20% for each year that a person delays homosexual or bisexual self-labeling.”*

Libraries, including school libraries, that address the issue of sexual orientation, must present all of the facts in a fair and balanced manner. Exclusion of some views merely because of disagreement with them constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. Therefore, the ex-gay viewpoint in your library, as well as in your public schools, is protected by the First Amendment and should be heard.

Gay activists have created an environment where anyone who does not accept homosexuality as equivalent to heterosexuality in every way is labeled a “bigot” whose attitude equates to racism. Sexual orientation non-discrimination laws and hate crime policies are used to silence the ex-gay community and legitimize intolerance against former homosexuals.

Each year thousands of men and women with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave a gay identity via secular therapy, faith-based ministries, and other non-judgmental environments.

Ex-gays must be included in the formation of public policy that includes balance on controversial issues, especially homosexuality, because ex-gays have much to contribute to the understanding of sexual orientation. Without testimony from all sectors of society, public policy on this issue is seriously flawed.

Sincerely,

Greg Quinlan
PFOX Board member
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) is a national non-profit organization that supports families, advocates for the ex-gay community, and educates the public on sexual orientation.
*(Source: Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth by Remafedi, Farrow, and Deisher, in Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics 87: 869-875 June 1991.)

Publisher dips into West Bend Issues - tells nation to jump on City Council and Vrana

This book publisher, Seven Stories Press, takes a swing at the citizens of West Bend

As you may have heard, the Common Council of West Bend, Wisconsin voted on April 21 to dismiss four members of the West Bend Library Board. The reason? The Common Council disagreed with the “ideology” of the Board members, and with their refusal to remove certain LGBT-themed titles from the Young Adult section of the library. Among the titles: (see books and excerpts on the left-hand side of this blog page)

First of all, once again this publisher has the information wrong. Or do they? Perhaps, like the local organization of West Bend Parents for Free Speech, they are using the LGBT community so they can get people fired up over an issue that is not about gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgenders at ALL! Perhaps if one reads the actual petition (left side of this blog), one would find that both homosexual AND heterosexual books are being addressed. Yes, yes, we know that three months ago we objected to the "Out of the Closet" book recommendations, mostly because we object to sex book recommendations of ANY kind for minors. We have since, long ago, dropped that issue as we feel the issue at hand is sexually explicit materials. Nothing more. Publishers that talk smack about the LGBT-themed books to the LGBT community to rile them up are simply looking for a group to "use", and those on the receiving end of this abuse should be outraged. We have heard from many LGBTs that they AGREE with our stance on sexually explicit materials for their kids! Parents are parents....
....

In short: material that provides information on puberty, on coming out as gay, lesbian, or transgendered teen, and on teenage sexual abuse and the depression and trauma that can result from it—this is the material that the City Council, bowing to pressure from the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries, wants to make less accessible to teenagers. Even shorter: the Council wants to restrict teenagers from reading books about puberty if those books talk positively about gay people.

Once again, wrong info! Shucks! Two strikes! Not making them less accessible. The kids can still walk into the library, go to a rack, take a book, and check it out. Same books, different shelf. C'mon...this is not rocket science!

And the last sentence? HUH? That is just a lie. Period. Nothing to back that up whatsoever. Who wrote this idiotic piece?

....

A letter opposing the City Council’s decision, signed by the heads of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Association of American Publishers and the PEN American Center, can be found here.

And a superior explanation of the misinformation within this letter can be found here.

....

As an independent press with a long history of (1) publishing and promoting traditionally oppressed voices (it’s laughable, for example, to say that librarians should stock books from the controversial and politically-motivated ex-gay movement to “balance” a guide to puberty that says that homosexuality is a viable lifestyle) (See next blog note with PFOX's thoughts about that statement) and (2) opposing censorship in all its forms, we’d like to propose a call to action:

Let the Common Council know how you feel, and why you believe that “protecting” kids in small towns from books that deal favorably with homosexuality is not an appropriate action for a taxpayer-funded library to take.

Why would anyone want to do that, as this is not the issue! This publisher is going to make people look SILLY.

Let them know that the four Library Board members should not have been dismissed for refusing to bow to unconstitutional pressure from religious groups, however many signatures on a petition those groups can gather.

Ooops! That's three strikes, people! They were not "dismissed", they were not reappointed. The reason? They "dragged their feet" and "stonewalled" the public. Yes, THEY DID.

Let them know that if they really do want to protect their kids—including their LGBT kids—they can best protect them by giving them access to information about their own identity and sexuality, not by stigmatizing that information as “adult” or “obscene.”

So their "own identity" (and heteros, this is for you, too) agrees that children should read books that contain "how to's" for masturbation, three-way sex, sex with toys, etc., etc.? Hmmm... I would think the LGBT gang would be just as outraged this garbage is dragging down THEIR literary standards, but hey, I guess my thought that parents, no matter WHAT their walk of life, would stand by their children's innocence. Perhaps putting a man's ejaculatory secretions on corn flakes is an appealing form of literature to those who are LGBT..at least that is what this publisher is stating.

You can write a letter to the following address:

(City Council/Vrana address given)

All this misinformation could be intentional, or it could show the effects of the lies spread by non-local parties interested in maintaining control over OUR library. Directing the general public to write ridiculous letters about an issue that this publisher clearly does not understand will simply make them look, well, silly, like I said before. The letters will end up in the trash, as they do not pertain to the issue. Nice try, 7 Stories. But the public has your number. And its a ZERO.

West Bend National Day of Prayer 11:45 City Hall Lawn

The NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

will be recognized TODAY at 11:45 on the lawn of City Hall,

1115 South Main Street.

All are welcome to join together to pray for our nation, o

ur leaders and the citizens therein.

White House BOOTS Nat'l Day of Prayer

Oh, that's right... "This is not a Christian nation."

WHITE HOUSE - This Thursday, for the first time in nine years, there won't be a White House ceremony in observance of the National Day of Prayer.

Republican Congressman Randy Forbes, co-chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, says a proclamation urging Americans to pray would be more meaningful if the president set a public example. Forbes calls it a missed opportunity, but says, "Hopefully we'll have millions of people around the country that will make up for the void we see at the White House on the National Day of Prayer."

America raising its kids on porn - Washington Times

America is raising a generation of children on porn- and your child just might be one of them. According to the London School of Economics, nine out of 10 teens who go online will view pornography. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 70 percent of those who viewed porn stumbled across it - many while innocently doing their homework - and had not been looking for it.

The purveyors of hard-core porn are so fixated on creating addicts out of our sons and daughters that they have made it virtually impossible for children to escape their clutches.

....

The negative effects of porn usage on children are clear. A Heritage Foundation study reports that the harms include: overestimating the prevalence of practices such as group sex, bestiality and sado-masochism; perceiving promiscuity as normal; developing cynical attitudes about love; and viewing the idea of raising children and having a family as unattractive prospects. Another horrible consequence is that boys begin to view girls as nothing more than sex objects, and our little girls begin to think that being one is how they get ahead in the world.

....

Today's wonderful technologies such as the Internet have many benefits for our children - the world and all its wonders are magically at their fingertips. But these advances also mean that parents have to be proactive in fighting those who misuse them. We must not sit idly by when our children are being targeted.

The solution to a huge part of the problem is easy: download a reliable Internet filter.

....

The great news is that it only takes a few keystrokes and a few minutes to download a filter that will keep the scum out of your house.

And out of your library.

Exploitation of Children for the grown-up agendas

Mayor tables library issue at alderman's request

The move to rescind the vote of the mayoral library board appointees is off the City Countil meeting agenda for tonight.

Alderman Dobberstein has allegedly asked to have the move held until the next City Council meeting as one alderman was not able to be available at this evening's meeting.

WB Citizens for Safe Libraries Statement

STATEMENT FROM WEST BEND CITIZENS FOR SAFE LIBRARIES

We wish to assure our common council, our mayor and our community that we, in no way, align ourselves with the group who has issued a lawsuit against the West Bend Community Memorial Library. We would like to affirm that we are not asking for a ban on books, and we are not asking for books to be burned. We continue to move forward with our petition requests that protect children from sexually explicit material.

WBCFSL is a community group of parents and taxpayers who are seeking to uphold the community standards of our city in the taxpayer-funded, local public library.

Publishers Weekly can't get it right

I'll try to be helpful here...


By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/29/2009 8:01:00 AM

Four members of a library board in West Bend, Wis., were dismissed last week for refusing to remove controversial books from the library’s young adult section—and yesterday, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center criticized the firings.

OK, this is the first boo-boo and very misleading. The four library board members were up for reappointment. The City Council members did not feel they served their community's best interests in a timely manner. They chose to vote down the mayoral appointments. The mayor will simply choose four new members to replace those whose appointment terms were up. No firing; no dismissal. We can see how Ms. Andriani would choose to use that terminology, as it certainly would get the hair on people's backs up! Sounds more like a tabloid than journalism...


The groups sent a letter to the West Bend Common Council stating that the dismissals threatened free speech in two ways: punishing the board members for attempting to apply objective criteria in the selection of books, and pressuring the library to remove the controversial books. The letter said, “The role of a public library and its board members is to serve the entire community and to evaluate books and other library materials on the basis of objective criteria. By removing half the members of the library board, the Common Council is imposing its opinions on the rest of the community.”

Let's say this again. Nobody was "removed." Four people's terms were up. That's it. The Council voted not to reappoint. Nothing wrong with that. Perfectly within their right.

The controversy began in February when two patrons complained that the library’s YA section included fiction and nonfiction books about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. The patrons accused the library of promoting “the overt indoctrination of the gay agenda in our community” and demanded that the library add books “affirming traditional heterosexual perspectives.” They also insisted that the library remove books from the YA section including Brent Hartinger’s Geography Club (HarperCollins), Stephan Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Esther Drill’s Deal With It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain and Life as a gURL (both Simon & Schuster).

Please see excerpts for these books to the left of this post. Furthermore, Ms. Andriani is not giving the entire story in an informative way. She omits that the books were asked to be placed in a different area of the library, still accessable to young adults, but out of the reach of younger children. A perfectly reasonable request, considering the explicit nature of the materials.


Last week, West Bend Mayor Kristin Deiss submitted the names of four members of the library board for a new three-year term, and the council voted 5-3 to dismiss the board members.
The letter to the Common Council is available online here.

The pressure to force the Common Council to keep the same library board members after they have made their decision not to reappoint is unjustified. The City Council strongly stated that the library board had dragged out the issue much too long, refusing to address the issue and "stonewalling" the complainants. If a Common Council does not feel ANY board members serving the community, no matter what the capacity, in the best interests of the community in an appropriate manner, they have every right to reject the appointments. And they did.

ALA/OIF makes fools of themselves

As always, a little dessert to go with your dinner. Here is a goodie from Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries:

The following is my response to American Library Association [ALA] President Jim Rettig and the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom Acting Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone regarding the matter in West Bend, WI.

.....

It is so easy to prove these people false, and no one should ever be intimidated by them or the ALA. The ALA only further marginalizes itself:

.....

Ms. Caldwell Stone responded, "For the record, Mr. Kleinman does not ... accurately portray my views or the views of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom." However, in the past, Ms. Caldwell-Stone said, "There are times when a book might be moved, for example a young adult novel makes it into a fourth or fifth classroom and that's more appropriate for the high school library, and a committee can just say this was an inappropriate book to buy for this age group but it was an appropriate book to buy for this age category and it works for this high school library." Listen to the Deborah Caldwell-Stone say this in her own voice by clicking on the link located at "Deborah Caldwell-Stone Discusses Banned Books", by admin, American Library Association, 11 July 2008.

Now my reading of that tells me that there are times when a book might be moved for reasons of age appropriateness. Yes, the context was a public school library, but the same principle applies, and the speaker was Deborah Caldwell-Stone herself.

So when I said, "Further, the books will just be moved in the library. Even Deborah Caldwell-Stone has said that is appropriate in the appropriate circumstance," I have "Deborah Caldwell-Stone Discusses Banned Books" as my reliable source for that statement.

I try to provide accurate and truthful information, and I usually back it up with source material. Only this time I provided the source after I made the statement; how ironic the source I provided is the very person claiming I do not "accurately portray [her] views or the views of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom." Apparently, I do, at least in this instance.

....... US v. ALA, a big loss for the ALA and the ACLU, saw the Court say, "The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree." Did Ms. Caldwell-Stone tell you about that? Does the US Supreme Court make book banning and censorship the law of the land? No and no. See also "LISNews Disses Judith Krug Unwittingly" for how the ALA, indeed the very Office for Intellectual Freedom Caldwell-Stone leads, misleads the public on the issue of censorship just as she is doing here on this Queery blog post.

.....

And the ALA President himself has gotten directly involved. See the letter I have included below.

.....

Material can be inappropriate for children and still not be pornography. The issue is inappropriate material for children, not pornography. Efforts to cast the issue as pornography are merely efforts to cleverly avoid the real issue.

Notice he also talks about, "we must preserve the intellectual freedom rights of the entire community," but his direct involvement in this matter is precisely the opposite, namely, to prevent the rights of the entire community and enforce the ALA's policies.

It's a public library, not an ALA library. It's West Bend's library, not Chicago's library. Do not be fooled by desperate people using false pornography and censorship claims or out-of-date GLBT claims. Notice how none of these people and organizations are discussing the actual issues, namely, the legal means for protecting children that is being sought in West Bend and successfully applied in other communities. Why is that?

Don't worry, Dan. We're not intimidated!

CCLU files lawsuit against WB Library, Mayor

Interesting.


The Milwaukee branch of the Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) has filed a legal claim that says a book that is available in the West Bend Community Memorial Library is offensive.

Robert C. Braun of West Allis, Joseph Kogelmann of Milwaukee, Robert Brough of West Bend and the Rev. Cleveland Eden of Milwaukee, representing the Milwaukeebased group, filed the claim with the city of West Bend clerk's office. Named in the claim are the city of West Bend, Mayor Kristine Deiss, the West Bend Library Board and Library Director Michael Tyree. The group is seeking $30,000 per plaintiff, Deiss’ resignation and a racist book be removed and publicly burned or destroyed as a deterrent to repeating the offensive conduct, the claim states.

Pursuant to section 893.80 of the Wisconsin state statutes, the claim says the Library is engaged in having books on display that the plaintiffs consider to be obscene or racial in content and promote violence. The plaintiffs question why a taxpayer funded library makes literature available that has damaged the plaintiffs, the claim states.

The book in question is “Baby Be-Bop,” by Francesca Lia Block, and should be removed from the Library, which is in the vicinity of a school, the claim states. It describes the book as being “explicitly vulgar, racial (sic) and anti-Christian.”

.....

The claim states that specific words used in the book are derogatory and slanderous to all males, and dangerously offensive and disrespectful to all people. The claim says the words can permeate violence, and puts one's life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.

Area H.I.S. Players presents "OUR TOWN" next weekend

West Bend Area Home Educators, HIS Players (Home Is School) will be putting on performances of "OUR TOWN", a wonderful story of life, love (and death) in small town America at the turn of the (last) century.

The public performances will be at:

West Bend High School

Friday

May 8th

7:00 p.m.

and again on

Saturday

May 9th

1:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

There is NO CHARGE for admission so you can attend as many times as you like!

We go to these plays every year and they are always AMAZING! Enormous talent and professionalism...! You won't be disappointed!

Tell your neighbors, co-workers and friends... Take the family!

Alderman places rescind of library board vote on Monday agenda

Alderman Nick Dobberstein has requested the vote for the library board be rescinded and this has request has been added to the Monday evening City Council meeting agenda.

The agenda reads as follows:

9. A request by Alderman Dobberstein to rescind the Common Council’s defeat of the Mayor’s appointments to the Library Board.

10. Approval of Mayoral appointments to the Library Board.

According to the WBKV interview with Ald. Dobberstein this morning, he feels the use of the word "rescind" instead of "recall" gives him the authority to bring this vote back to the City Council once again.

Robert's Rules of Order states:

Reconsider: Can be made only by one on the prevailing side who has changed position or view.

It is alleged that there will be a PUBLIC FORUM Monday evening.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ATTEND!

Continue to contact your Aldermen and encourage them to stand firm on their decision. We don't want our city to look weak in the wake of protecting it's children!

Tony Turner 334-3658
Allen Carter 334-5532
Steve Hutchins 388-4501
Michael Schlotfeldt 689-0681
Richard Lindbeck 334-9753
Terry Vrana 338-3759
Roger Kist 338-9913
MAYOR: 335-5111 OR mayor@ci.west-bend.wi.us

MONDAY EVENING

MAY 4, 2009

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

6:30 p.m.

CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS

1115 South Main

Loyalty Day honored by local Veterans/public schools

TEN Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW members), 3 ladies auxiliary members, one musician to play "Taps" and a string trio criss-crossed West Bend in celebration of Loyalty Day. This group visited 3 elementary schools and two senior centers. They continued visiting local schools yesterday and today, promoting patriotism among the youth of our community.

Loyalty Day originally began as "Americanization Day" in 1921 as a counter to the Communists' May 1 celebration of the Russian Revolution. On May 1, 1930, 10,000 VFW members staged a rally at New York's Union Square to promote patriotism. Through a resolution adopted in 1949, May 1 evolved into Loyalty Day. Observances began in 1950 on April 28 and climaxed May 1 when more than five million people across the nation held rallies. In New York City, more than 100,000 people rallied for America. In 1958 Congress enacted Public Law 529 proclaiming Loyalty Day a permanent fixture on the nation's calendar.

Under the able leadership of John Kleinmaus, a veteran of the Vietnam War, the audience was insightfully given the history of some of our favorite patriotic songs, and the importance of our nation to be diligent to retain our freedom for our posterity. We must remain on guard to those forces undermining freedom in America and around the world. The color guard presented the US flag and the flags of our military. A Pearl Harbor survivor was among the Vets in attendance.

Selah Strings played various musical selections reminding us of our rich heritage. A solo of "Taps" ended the ceremony at each location.

The students at Green Tree Elementary treated everyone when they sang The Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful.

The Badger Middle School students took part in their program by playing patriotic music and performing a color guard presentation. Each principal received the book, Lessons on Liberty, for their school library.

If you have children or grandchildren in our local schools, ask them about Loyalty Day; it could be a great opportunity to discuss patriotism together!

Hats off to those who sacrificed time to teach and excite children about their patriotic heritage!

ALA President/ALA OIF called out on LYING/MISLEADING

Superior homework on the part of SafeLibraries.

The following is my response to American Library Association [ALA] President Jim Rettig and the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom Acting Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone regarding the matter in West Bend, WI.

"....in the past, Ms. Caldwell-Stone said, "There are times when a book might be moved, for example a young adult novel makes it into a fourth or fifth classroom and that's more appropriate for the high school library, and a committee can just say this was an inappropriate book to buy for this age group but it was an appropriate book to buy for this age category and it works for this high school library." Listen to the Deborah Caldwell-Stone say this in her own voice by clicking on the link located at "Deborah Caldwell-Stone Discusses Banned Books", by admin, American Library Association, 11 July 2008.Now my reading of that tells me that there are times when a book might be moved for reasons of age appropriateness. Yes, the context was a public school library, but the same principle applies, and the speaker was Deborah Caldwell-Stone herself."

"On the other hand, it is Deborah Caldwell-Stone who herself is being misleading. She says, for instance, "The ALA opposes book banning and censorship in any form, including censorship that arises from disagreement with and disapproval of positive GLBT materials." While outwardly true, the whole truth is that no book has been banned for many decades in the USA. I'm talking about banned, not moved for reasons of age appropriateness. Bd of Educ. v. Pico says the parties stipulate that pervasively vulgar material may be removed from public schools immediately. US v. ALA, a big loss for the ALA and the ACLU, saw the Court say, "The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree." Did Ms. Caldwell-Stone tell you about that? Does the US Supreme Court make book banning and censorship the law of the land? No and no. See also "LISNews Disses Judith Krug Unwittingly" for how the ALA, indeed the very Office for Intellectual Freedom Caldwell-Stone leads, misleads the public on the issue of censorship just as she is doing here on this Queery blog post.She misleads the public another way, but it may be innocently. Other than what she said about me that I proved was incorrect, the remainder of her comments addressed themselves not to the issues, but to a nonissue. The issue of "GLBT materials" is a nonissue because the proponent of the changes in the library has long ago (relatively speaking) dropped her claims regarding GLBT materials and has since requested only legal means for protecting children from inappropriate material in her own public library. That's the issue now. Legal means for protecting children. Deborah Caldwell-Stone did not address that issue. Why? My guess is that she knows they are legal and there actually are no arguments for not applying legal means to protect children. Hence the reliance on the out-of-date GLBT claims."

Common Sense Decency - ALL can agree

Looks like a good read:

PORCH TALK: Stories of Decency, Common Sense, and Other Endangered Species
Author: Philip Gulley

Recommended by the American Library Association's "Booklist" review.

Waving the banner of "freedom of speech" as an excuse to give pornography to children fails to land in the lap of common sense, and certainly does not embrace decency.

Screaming that protecting kids from sexually explicit material is a gay and lesbian issue, and abusing gays and lesbians to get these materials into the hands of kids is downright deceitful.

We may not agree with homosexuality, and homosexuals may not agree with us, BUT, we all can agree that sexually explicit materials do not belong in the hands of children. We have had numerous conversations from both sides of this sexual fence, and THIS was the conclusion. We CAN agree about this. It is "common sense decency."

But I guess if you have run out of options, you'll do anything.

And then there's the endangered species. The kids.

Fireside Books cleared - employee stands in opposition

According to information provided by a Fireside Books employee, the remarks made by the individual in the post about Saturday's signature drive were NOT made by the OWNER, but by an EMPLOYEE of Fireside Books.

There seems to be a misunderstanding about the conversation that took place.

HANRAHAN uses GAY PLATFORM from MADISON to gain support in West Bend

West Bend does not care what Madison thinks. Our community standards are much higher.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Tomorrow's show - Banning books and sacking library board members in West Bend The southeast Wisconsin city of West Bend recently removed four of its library board members because the community library’s young adult section contains books that portray gay teenagers in a positive light, and the board should have responded to a complaint about them immediately by removing them or restricting access to them, some city council members said. One alderman compared the library to a porn shop. Join Queery this Wednesday, April 29, at 7 PM CDT as we discuss the controversy with community and legal activists, including Maria Hanrahan, the founder of West Bend Parents for Free Speech, and Deborah Caldwell Stone, acting director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. That’s this Wednesday, 7 p.m., on WORT 89.89 FM (Madison, WI) or http://www.wort-fm.org/

About Queery:

Queery features local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender news & information in a news magazine format. Queery covers local and national news affecting Madison’s LGBT community. The show airs on Wednesdays from 7 to 7:30pm.

TWO INSIGHTFUL COMMENTS THAT WERE LEFT ON THE AFOREMENTIONED BLOG:

2 comments:
SafeLibraries said...
""Tomorrow's show - Banning books...." No books have been banned in the USA for about half a century. See "National Hogwash Week." Further, the books will just be moved in the library. Even Deborah Caldwell-Stone has said that is appropriate in the appropriate circumstance."[B]ecause the community library’s young adult section contains books that portray gay teenagers in a positive light...." That is your opinion. That is not the truth as presented by media reports.Your show will be more informative if you stick to the truth and ask relevant questions based on actual facts.

April 28, 2009 10:26 PM

SafeLibraries said...
I see that "Queery covers local and national news affecting Madison’s LGBT community." The matter going on with the library has absolutely nothing to do with anything "LGBT" specific. The only thing that might possibly be related is the original stance of the complaining party, but that stance has been abandoned long ago, and now people are seeking relief by using legal means for protecting children from inappropriate material in a public institution. It's a public library after all, not an ALA library.US v. ALA:"The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree."

WE AGREE.

Intimidation tactics fail on productive day for signature drive.....

Someone called all the businesses we advertised as our drive-through signature locations and threated them.

After being given approval to use their parking lots, Hobby Lobby, Quilted Bear and the Germantown alternate location, were intimidated by the caller, Maria Hanrahan, who admitted this to this blogger via this blog's comment section (which will not be posted here as she has her own blog).

We had no problems despite this inappropriate behavior, which Maria Hanrahan admitted to me was within her lawful right to do. The sidewalk actually worked better.... We were closer to the street and people were glad to just pull up and sign, then drive away.

Kewaskum DQ and State Farm Insurance in Hartford refused to budge or be intimidated. The caller also called State Farm HQ to try to get the support of "higher ups," but they were not intimidated, either. No problems, either place. Hats off to both Kewaskum DQ and State Farm/Hartford for standing their ground. BE SURE TO THANK THEM.

We got hundreds of signatures today in a mostly steady flow. A little slow during downpours, but overall great day!

A group opposing our requests took signs and stood at the opposite end of the street. Opposers drove through Hobby Lobby parking lot and screamed obscenities at us and the children who were volunteering today. Some of the words were appalling..... (but pretty sure they could be found in many, if not most, of the books we are protesting). No child should be harassed in that manner. No adult should either, for that matter. They flipped us the middle finger. They called the police and tried to find violations, i.e., card table on private property (we did not have a card table out of any sort). The police officer was kind and explained city ordinances to us so there were no issues with loitering (we were not..we complied with the city ordinance and continued to have people move about), and the like.

We have said it before, we will say it again. We are not going away. We will not be shut down, despite the tactics used by those who know they are wrong and have no other means of battle.

We were proud of the wonderful group, adults and teens, who helped stand in the gap for the youth in our community today. They were cold and wet....REALLY cold and wet...but they received the cruel, inappropriate and mostly vulgar rants without responding in kind. They did not intimidate; they were respectful of the business owner's properties, they even picked up trash/cigarette butts and left the area in better condition than when they came.

Only thing mysteriously missing was the media. Hmmmm... Lots on the front of the WB News today that was oppositional to the work we are trying to accomplish on behalf of our youth, but nobody to cover today's event. :-) Ya gotta love 'em.

Despite the cold and rainy day, we met more amazing and wonderful citizens who feel as strongly as we do.

We would do it again...in the rain.

The kids are worth it.