Next up CBS news: Ban books by gay authors in public high schools?

[Rowdyboy]

These people are insane
This should be good...

[jojo54]

1. What state are you in?

I'm in Jersey, watching ABC news and they're talking about advances in breast cancer. I wish I was in your place. Tell us what they say.

[Rowdyboy]

6. I'm in Mississippi but the story is taking place in Alabama

their state legislature is considering a bill to do just that. Ban any book either by or about homosexuals.

[HeeBGBz]

26. Say goodbye, Tennessee Williams

How are they gonna pass the litmus test?

These people are sick, ignorant and evil.

[IndianaGreen]

52. and Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Lawrence

and the list goes on and on...

http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317834/us317898/us169258/us169283/us539791/

Shall we target next films by Rock Hudson, James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Montgomery Clift? How about sculpture and paintings by gays and lesbians?

[FreedomAngel82]

36. Why am I not surprised?

I'm not surprised they're in Alabama. The state is nice but they have as many problems as Florida does but with religion.

[Book Lover]

2. Yeah, that Whitman...

I mean, what did he contribute to our culture anyway?


FACING west, from California’s shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western Sea—the circle almost circled;
For, starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere,
From Asia—from the north—from the God, the sage, and the hero,
From the south—from the flowery peninsulas, and the spice islands;
Long having wander’d since—round the earth having wander’d,
Now I face home again—very pleas’d and joyous;
(But where is what I started for, so long ago?
And why is it yet unfound?)

[Roland99]

3. This is nuts!!

Legislators debate gay books in schools; other bills stalled
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050421/bills.shtml

Legislators continue to debate a bill that would stop schools from spending state funds on books that recognize or promote homosexuality.

Other bills, however, dealing with medical marijuana, traffic cameras and end-of-life issues, are probably dead for the session.

Patricia Todd says she is tired of coming from her Birmingham home to stand before legislative committees and defend the fact that she is a lesbian.

"I feel you all hate us," Todd told the House Education Committee on Wednesday during a hearing on the book bill.

Sponsor Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, said it is a response to citizens' concerns.

Rep. Gerald Allen on CBS: "I look at it as protecting the hearts, minds, and souls of our children"


He even wanted to ban some Shakespeare!!

[Arkana]

8. I think Mr. Allen will find his way on to next week's Top Ten

Did someone send this to Skinner?

[Roland99]

12. I think you're righ!

[FreedomAngel82]

37. Oh good grief!!

Oh good grief! They can write books too assholes! :eyes: They should talk to Lynne Cheney about HER BOOK!

[dhinojosa]

4. They should also ban everything in the vatican then....

hey are you canadian?

[Arkana]

5. Don't want yer kee-uds gittin thar heads fillt

with that fancy book-learnin', can yer? 'Specially from them QUEERS! *obvious :sarcasm: *

You're absolutely right, of course. For chrissakes--I read Augusten Burroughs, love David Sedaris, and I magically remained straight. These people are whack jobs and nothing more.

[rodeodance]

21. oh my--and the exclusions continue--and continue

[doublethink]

7. Aw the Theocracy tentacles are long aren't they .....

banning books now are we .....

[Maat]

9. Wow. How sad.

This is why I have my daughter in a small private school, with a good library, and in which the most welcoming and affirming values are taught, along with respect for one's friends, teachers and family. There are Native American students, Christian-Americans, Hindu Students, Muslim students, Religious Science Students, Euro-Americans, African-Americans, GLBTs and Heteros (as at least to the older kids, who have made a statement regarding such), Tall-Americans, and Short-Americans.

Well, I'll keep fighting this kind of stuff, but I just questioned how much I could make an impact in the world at large.

At least I'm able to make sure that, in my own tiny little world, there isn't bigotry and hostility.

[Spinzonner]

23. Ban Randy Newman !

[davidinalameda]

10. it's nice that this story is finally making the national news

maybe they'll show these people for the hateful bigots they are

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. I saw the buffalo-on-the tennis-courts segment and something...

about a surrogate mother having quints! Must have missed the book-ban segment but who needs books?

[Placebo]

13. They've been here forever. They're queer. GET FUCKING USED TO IT ALREADY!

:nuke:

[whistle]

14. That will include over half of all writers of English and American

...literature throughout history.

[Richard Steele]

84. At least the GOOD literature, anyway!

If you really take the time to consider how much this would BAN...
well, all our jokes about the Fundies 'returning to the Dark Ages' aren't JOKES anymore.

They REALLY think they can do it!
And they WANT to do it,
and...
They are actually DOING it RIGHT F*CKING NOW!!!!

It's high time to realize: these people do NOT simply have "different opinions".

They are completely, incurably INSANE.
And they will NEVER be satisfied; not EVER!

They will NEVER stop until they are STOPPED by outside forces.

[whistle]

94. "Catcher In The Rye" will be first I'm sure.....

[mr blur]

15. Well, there goes Shakespeare. (nt)

[Rowdyboy]

18. They made a special exemption to exclude Shakespeare

Wasn't that progressive of them?

[Bouncy Ball]

61. Well, wasn't Shakespeare bi?

[kliljedahl]

16. That's not going far enough

I think we should ban every invention, medicine or any modern convenience created by gay persons. Why stop with books? :tinfoilhat:



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[DBoon]

17. Ban all computer science!

Alan Turing was gay. He built the foundations of modern computer science. He was also literally hounded to death by the British for being gay.

What about Keynesian economics? John Maynard was gay.

What about philosophy without any Wittgenstein? Ludwig was gay as well.

Classical music without Tchaikovsky? he was gay, and was forced to commit suicide for it.

[Taxloss]

Art without Michaelangelo?

[bklyncowgirl]

89. Don't let the kiddiepoos see any of the news regarding the Pope.

Sistine Chapel, need I say more. Even those views of St.Peters--they'd have to grey out the dome--Michelangelo designed that too.

Censor the Dome!

[whistle]

95. What about "Mein Kampf" Hitler wasn't gay as much as he was

....asexual -- having no sexual attraction to anyone

[Roland99]

19. What's going to be next? Movies? TV Shows?

Do these morans not realize how many gays are in the media?

[Shallah Kali]

43. Undoubtedly they do and that is the whole point

ban all media from books to music that is not on approved topics to stomp out everything they disapprove of. It is as if they believe there was no homosexuality (or other unapproved actions) before someone wrote about them {rolleyes}

[EVDebs]

20. Just a matter of time before the Reichstag is set on fire and Liberals get

the blame....

[readmoreoften]

22. I agree, it's where we're headed.

[Jon_da_brockman]

24. Jeez

As absurd as this is, I have a feeling it will get worse before it gets better.

[newyawker99]

31. Hi Jon_da_brockman!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[xchrom]

25. geeez -- don't these people ever think about anything else?

i mean i'm gay and i don't think about gay stuff as much as they do.

[FreedomAngel82]

39. It seems to me

they're obsessed with sex. I thought republicans were for privacy?? :shrug:

[Tux]

82. Isn't that ironic?

They think more on homosexuals than gays do. I mean, how often you think of 2 men/women having sex vs conservatives who seem obsessed with gay sex. While you're working and paying bills, these jerks are concerned over gay porn they watched all day and wonder if they're gay or not. And your tax money pays for it.

[tjdee]

27. No Oscar Wilde...

How fucking ridiculous.

[Cleita]

28. There goes Oscar Wilde, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal

among many others. So where does that leave Lynne Cheney?

[FreedomAngel82]

40. I guess

she's acceptable eh? :eyes:

[RebelOne]

87. But wasn't Gore Videl married?

He was married to that actress Jane somebody.

[Cleita]

101. According to this biography,

he seems to have been bisexual.

http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/~stafflag/gorevidal.html

It doesn't mention any wives, but it does mention his partners.

[Stinky The Clown]

29. I **just** saw this on teevee (Bob Sheaffer). Un-FUCKING-believable

This asshat 'legislator' who introduced this is a poster boy for the rightwingreligiowhackofuckers.

I HATE these people. I fucking hate them with all of my being. I HATE THEM.

Get the fuck out of my pants. Get the fuck out of my bedroom. Get the fuck out of my library. Get the fuck out of my mind. Get the fuck out of my city. Get the fuck out of my home. Get the fuck out of the country who's uniform I FUCKING WORE.

Stay away from my neighbors. Stay away from my brothers. Stay away from my sisters. Stay away from my friends. Stay away from my wife. Stay away from my children.

You, sir, are a monger of hate. You are a hideous boil on the rim of the asshole of humanity. You are lower than whale shit. You MOTHERFUCKER! I am as enraged as the sister of one of Jeffrey Dahmer's victims who yelled at him in court on the day of his sentencing.

I HATE YOU, YOU SHITBAG. YOU ARE LESS THAN HUMAN.


AAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[Stinky The Clown]

30. Oh ... and I nominated this one .....

[FreedomAngel82]

44. Good rant!

Good rant and I'm with you. And here I thought the republican party was for privacy. :eyes: Good grief.

[Bouncy Ball]

62. I think it would be healthier if you said what you REALLY feel

and stop holding it in like that.

:thumbsup: I'm bookmarking this just for that rant. It's good.

[chalky]

65. Can we nominate an individual post?

'Cause that?...Was beautiful.

[DBoon]

78. "Entartete Kunst"

http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa072599.htm

In 1937 in Munich the Nazis held an art exhibition of what they called Entartete Kunst, or Degenerate Art. The purpose of the exhibition was to let the Germans know that some forms and pieces of art were not accepted by the "highest race", and this art is "degenerate", also called as Jewish or Bolshevistic. During the "Entartete Kunst" campaign over 20 thousand works by more than 200 artists of that time were confiscated.

The grounds for choosing the "unworthy" pieces of art were quite simple and cruel: anything that was out of tune with Hitler's way of thinking, was considered to be "degenerate". Hitler believed the art must serve the purpose of exaltation of the Aryan way of life. In this case, with this great aim, art is perfect and eternal. To Hitler's mind.

The authors of the banned works, mostly expressionists, were proclaimed mad. It would be curious to learn that most of those artists are known as the most prominent among their contemporaries, and are still admired. They are: Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Edvard Munch, many others, and the most degenerate artist of the world, Pablo Picasso.

[BamaGirl]

79. I think I love you h2s ;) lol

Sorry sparkly! Beautiful rant! Sums of the feelings of this Bama girl for sure. ;)

[Thoth]

96. You're being too subtle - tell us how you really feel! n/t

[cally]

32. Here's my deal and what I would do this happened here

I agree to ban gay authors if we ban every book that anyone EVER suggested by being by a gay author. And we HAVE to ban every art work where anyone ever suggested, ever, that they were gay. Then we have to ban Every magazine with a style editor who is gay or who quotes gays or lesbians. Then we must, yes must, ban every news organization that allows ads from any known organization that hires gays or lesbians. Goodbye Disney, goodbye Microsoft, goodbye Fox.

[Stinky The Clown]

33. Goodbye Bible .........

lotsa refernces to gay themes there, yanno.

[FreedomAngel82]

46. Don't forget

all the violence and some sex. :eyes:

[Auntie Bush]

47. They should also return ALL home furnishings that any gay Interior

Decorator picked out for them and all those designer outfits. They'd be living in an empty house in their bare skin. Where do they draw the line?

[Dr Fate]

34. What about music and art works- is that next???

This reminds me of the line from Mel Brook's nazi era comedy "To Be or not to Be":

"They are killing the Fags & Jews? WHAT will happen to the theater???"

[gollygee]

35. That's CRAZY

can you imagine not allowing contributions by gay writers, artists, musicians, etc. ??????????????

That's absolutely crazy.

[chaska]

38. Goodbye Tennessee Williams, Goodbye Shakespeare (okay, that's a rumor).

[chaska]

41. Goodbye James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, Carson McCullers.

[chaska]

42. Goodbye Whitman, Wilde, and Alice Walker.

[deadparrot]

66. And Willa Cather. nt

[readmoreoften]

67. Langston Hughes

Get your raisin out of Alabama's sun!

[readmoreoften]

68. Elizabeth Bishop n/t

[chaska]

76. Noel Coward

[DBoon]

77. Goodbye Darby Crash

OK, The Germs aren't exactly high culture, but you get the idea

[Pepperbelly]

92. Goodbye Matt Drudge?

:rofl:

[6000eliot]

54. More than a rumor

Many of the sonnets are explicitly addressed to a beautiful young man. You should hear the "experts" dance around that fact.

[dsc]

45. I honestly wonder which library would be better

Alabama's after they banned all books with gay authors or characters or a library which stocked only books with gay authors or characters.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

48. And books by sexual harassers like O'Reilly are fine? a true hypocrite

Give me Truman Capote any day - one of the most skilled authors of all time. His style of writing is true art.

[gollygee]

49. The more I think about this, the more I think parents in this state should

be FURIOUS

These kids will go to college and compete with kids who actually got an education.

How is it possible to study literature and avoid gay authors?

[lectrobyte]

97. College? They'll send their kids to Baptist College. You've heard

about these religious colleges, where the students aren't allowed to watch TV, play video games, etc. etc.

[rainman99]

50. I remember when Keith Olbermann reported that most of

the right-wing email campaigns were just done by a few people. We just need to centralize and do the same thing.

[CBHagman]

51. Cultural suicide, basically.

If these people want to go whole hog and shun anything remotely connected with gay, lesbian or bisexual people, here's a bit of what they have to give up:

*No depictions of the Vatican, particularly the Sistine Chapel, because of Michelangelo's contributions.

*No Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man, A Lincoln Portrait, or other works by Aaron Copland.

*And it goes without saying there's no Benjamin Britten, either!

*No Danny Kaye movies, not even The Court Jester or Hans Christian Andersen

*Speaking of which, no Hans Christian Andersen

*No readings of The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde, and no Importance of Being Earnest. The Michael Redgrave version is doubly verboten.

And that's just for starters.

Looking at the list, it occurs to me that if these clowns really do gain full control over this country, particularly culturally speaking, I really will emigrate.

[IndianaGreen]

55. Leonard Bernstein was bisexual, I guess he is on the verbotten list

Let's turn America into a Xtian Taliban paradise! (uncontrollable desire to puke)

[demgurl]

53. Are they banning Gannon from writing in newspapers?

I think we should start a movement. I think anyone who is heterosexual needs to be banned. Gays are much more talented anyway! Yes, let's start an anti-heterosexual movement!

[noamnety]

56. Hans Christian Andersen, Emily Dickinson

Good grief.

Honestly, I didn't realize half these people were gay. Maybe that's a sign it's NOT RELEVANT. I can't imagine why I need to know the sexual history of every author I've read, or why they want to know about each author's sexual history.

[Stinky The Clown]

58. "Maybe that's a sign it's NOT RELEVANT"

Ding Ding Ding ......

We have a winner!

[benevolent dictator]

72. It's important. Really important.

That's how gay people recruit new gay people. They put subconcious messages in their writing and if you read enough of them, you will become gay. It's all part of their agenda, just like Will&Grace and Queer Eye. :sarcasm:

[DanCa]

57. This is so insane

What's next banning movies or tv shows with gay people on them? We are no longer in America but we have somehow fallen into the star trek dark mirror unviverse. It's time to go on the offense people we got to start protesting these guys for a change.

[dsc]

59. actually Alabama affilates did that with Ellen

When she came out I was in Mississippi and the affiliate in Birmingham wouldn't carry her show, so local gays and lesbians rented an arena and used a satelite to pipe it in.

[DanCa]

73. Wow

I never realized people were so bigotted. I just dont know what to say....Dsc email me if you got the chance. These freaks are just nuts.

[Bouncy Ball]

60. What? No Tennessee Williams?

No Walt Whitman?

No E.M. FORESTER????? AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean hell, it's not like they're reading Maurice in high school. But A Room With A View? I read that in high school, then discovered Howard's End, one of my favorite books of all time.

[dflprincess]

63. For me this story was one of those

"I should have died the day Nixon resigned." moments (It's a line I picked up from Gene Hackman in "Class Action). I seem to have a lot of those moments now days.

No Tennessee Williams allowed in Alabama? No Gore Vidal, and will the mere rumor that Truman Capote, not Harper Lee, actually wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" be enough to get that banned to?

[VOX]

64. If the U.S. allows this kind of hateful cultural division and subtraction,

then truly, I do not wish to live in this country any longer. I will go to Canada, England, New Zealand, or anywhere that this kind of insane bullshit isn't tolerated, or even mulled over. :grr:

[Kerrytravelers]

69. What if the writing depicted a homosexual getting beaten... bet it would

be just fine and dandy then.

[Kerrytravelers]

70. .

I'm straight, but not narrow.

I feel the need to fly a flag.

[benevolent dictator]

71. Are they planning to ban the Bible?

After all, it mentions homosexuality, plus there's those stories about David and Jonathan and Ruth and Naomi. I think if they're banning books about gay people they need to ban the Bible too.

[QC]

74. Between Gerald Allen and the Texas legislature,

the public is getting a real good look at what happens when loonies take over. Good--they need to see it.

[DanCa]

75. your spot on

I thought these were a few isolated incidents by a done by a few whackos. I had no idea it was this bad forgive my ignorance.

[OneBlueSky]

80. hell of a slippery slope here . . .

first it's gay authors . . . then what? . . . liberal authors? . . . non-Christian authors? . . . "unAmerican" authors? . . .

once you start down this path, it will be impossible to stop . . . never mind reversing direction . . .

[OneBlueSky]

81. guess it's goodbye to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address . . . n/t

.

[Tux]

83. I'm not surprised

Cons tend not to read nor gain education in anything other than money and Bible. Most people in my red state can't read so they won't care. B&N is for big city fancy liberals.

[Piperay]

85. Get rid of some of the greatest authors

and condemn more Americans to being ignorant while the rest of the World keeps on passing the USA up, yeah that is real smart...NOT.

[Solly Mack]

86. Didja see Justice Sunday? They got offended at being called theocrats

exclaiming "We're not the Taliban!"

But they are....They are the Taliban.

and stupid Americans back them.

[Rowdyboy]

93. I love the phrase "Tali-bornagain"

It pretty much sums up my opinion in one word.

[Liberal In Texas]

88. Ban them...then it's a short step to burning them.

I believe we'll see that before the theocracy is done.

They'll be burning books in the streets, with the federal goverments blessing.




-My country is so so sad these days-

[MadHound]

90. Well, there goes about a third of the library stacks

What a two-fer for the religious right. Wipe out gay authors, and continue the dumbing down of America. Fucking evil geniuses these fundie are:eyes:

Just another reason for me to continue to stockpile books, pretty soon a lot of them will be banned.

[arwalden]

91. It's Little Wonder... Especially When You Have Certain Church Leaders...

... repeatedly calling homos "evil" and "wicked". It really helps to set the tone and the climate of intolerance and hatred.

[foreigncorrespondent]

98. Alabama...

say goodbye to:

Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf)
Horatio Alger (Author: Cast Upon the Breakers to name one)
Djuna Barnes (novelist)
Anacreon (Greek poet)
Hans Christian Andersen (need I say anything?)
Aristotle (Greek philosopher)
John Ash (poet)
John Ashbery (Pulitzer Prize-winning poet)
Howard Ashman (playwright-lyricist)
Sir Francis Bacon (British philosopher-statesman)
James Bakker (Yes the evangelist)
James Baldwin (Writer)
Tallulah Bankhead (Need I say anything. Interesting to note though, she was born in Alabama and her Grandfather and Uncle were a U.S. Senators, her father was Speaker of the house of Representatives, and her Aunt was Director of Alabama State Archives.)
Richard Barnfield (British poet)
Rita Mae Brown (novelist)
Gaius Valerius Catullus (Roman poet)
Whittaker Chambers (journalist)
Sir Winston Churchill (British statesman & author)
Craig Claiborne (author)
Arthur C. Clarke (Need I say anything?)

And that is just a few. Trust me though, your bookshelves will be pretty barren if this law passes!

[Rowdyboy]

99. My partner's mother, who is 85 years old, lives in north Mississippi

Her mother was friends with Tallulah's mother and, as children, she and her sister would visit Mrs. Bankhead. While there their special treat was to try on Tallulah's clothes. That must have been an incredible treat for kids back in the 1920's.

[foreigncorrespondent]

100. Wow!

What an incredible story, Rowdy! Thanks so much for sharing that.

God, what I wouldn't give to be in their shoes! What joy it must have been.