Cortez writes “The Owen-Withee School Board members have denied a request to remove what protesters call a “pervasively vulgar” book with a sexual subject content from school library shelves–Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez. More here from Marshfield News Herald.
“To us, it’s a homosexual recruiting tool. We’re going to try and bring it up again. We’re going to try and reason it out of there on the vulgarity issue.”
I’m sure this title will continue to gather foes and advocates. More on Sanchez here Gay Alliance of the Genessee Valley.“
It’s a WHAT?
To us, it’s a homosexual recruiting tool.
A homosexual recruiting tool? Hrmm so are books by Eric Jerome Dickey a Black recruiting tool? How’s about those books by Mishima Yukio? Are they Japanese recruiting tools? Or maybe they’re seppuku recruiting tools. Oh I know! Books by Rita May Brown and Patricia Cornwell must be lesbian recruiting tools!
That’s why I like Cornwell so much. I always wanted to be a lesbian.
Yes the above statements are silly, but not as silly as the quoted statement. You can’t recruit someone to be a homosexual. They either are, or they aren’t. Books may be used to sway, even change, opinions. But just because someone reads a book doesn’t change their basic make up or their sexual leanings. If one of my friends reads this book, she’ll be just as bi and just as she was when she started it. If another of my friends reads this book, he’ll be just as gay as when he picked it up. And if a third friend of mine reads it, she’s going to remain as heterosexual as she ever was.
Re:It’s a WHAT?
Sexuality may or may not be a choice, depending on the individual, but sex itself is an act that can be used and abused like anything else. Books can and do have a positive and/or negative effect on children or young adult’s behaviour and the choices they make in life. Books affect adults as well but it is hoped that by the time we reach adulthood we can choose ourselves whether its positive or negative.
“After the school received the challenge, a committee of teachers was formed to read and respond to the book, said Dan Taft, principal of the high school. Those responses were passed on to the challengers, as well as reviews by national organizations.
If a challenger still wants a book removed after that, the process goes to the superintendent. James Friesen looked over the reviews and made a recommendation that students in grades seven through nine have parental permission to check out the book and it be made available without restriction to high school students.”
Seems like an appropriate response to me. Whether its the right one I don’t know, haven’t read it.
My New Year’s Resolutions are falling by the wayside.
read the book
Another individual who has requested that a book be banned who admits to have never even read the book itself… Sigh, if they are going to ask for the item to be banned, they should at least read it first.