North Carolina Congressman Introduces Legislation Curbing Gay-Themed Books
RSSLaura B. Weiss -- School Library Journal, 05/31/2005
With some state legislatures acting to restrict children’s access to gay-themed books, Congress is now taking up the hotly debated issue with legislation of its own. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) has introduced legislation (HR 2295) that would give parents a significant roles in determining what young children can read in school libraries and classrooms.
Dubbed the Parental Empowerment Act of 2005, the measure if passed would create local review boards of five to 15 parents who would have the authority to review and make recommendations on elementary school library and classroom materials before they could be purchased. Under the law, introduced May 11, states that failed to put the parental panels in place would lose all federal education funding.
“The goal behind this legislation is to empower parents to take charge of the content available to their young children in our public schools,” Jones says. The bill was crafted after parents from Wilmington, NC, which lies outside of the congressman’s district, complained that young children had access to King and King, a book in which two gay princes fall in love and wed.
Jones says that although he has not conducted “a scientific survey,” few parents are aware of King and King and similar books and that his measure is designed to give parents input into the decision-making process before library or classroom materials are purchased.
But ALA President Carol Brey-Casiano in a statement said she was “deeply concerned” about the bill. Casiano charged that the legislation would not only violate intellectual freedom, but also bar parents from choosing books that reflected each individual family’s values.
Many school districts already have in place parental review committees, according to Josh Farrelman, assistant director of ALA’s Office of Government Relations, who labeled the bill “redundant and unnecessary.” So far, the bill has no cosponsors and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee.
“The review process worked” in Wilmington, says Farrelman, where the book was removed after parents lodged a protest.
Responding to ALA, Jones says: “I can’t understand why parents [can’t] have the power to oversee what children are reading. [The ALA] is in left field.” ALA declined to comment.
