The Last Gay Word: The Gay Teen Book Author's Tale

All too often, school administrators and politicians collapse in the face of these unrelenting attacks. In fact, last spring, the Oklahoma legislature voted to require that all gay-themed books, even gay-themed picture books, be put in an “adults-only” section of the public libraries. Librarians themselves are usually very vigilant in their defense of gay teen books, but even they must withstand incredible pressure.

Maybe you think that I'm over-reacting, that there is no slippery slope, and that gay teen book bannings are not the first (or second or third) step toward another Kristallnacht .

But here's the way it usually works.

A month ago, some parents in Webster Central School District in upstate New York complained because Alex Sanchez's Rainbow Boys was included on a high school summer reading list. School demonstrators responded by immediately de-listing the book, which has won all kinds of great reviews and important honors.

Librarians in the area strongly warned the administrators that they were making a mistake: that if parents were allowed to have this one book yanked from the summer reading list without discussion or review, then other parents would soon want other books removed.

And what do you know? Right after the district acquiesced, another parent submitted a long list of books for removal (including many classics and award winners, as well as another book of mine, The Last Chance Texaco). About half the books were gay-themed.
And this was in a solidly “blue” state!

This is what happens when administrators try to compromise with people who know no compromise.

If allowed, many of these people would remove every gay book from that reading list, and from the area's public and school libraries. Removing all trace of homosexuality from the public sphere is pretty much part of the stated mission of groups like Concerned Women for America, Parents Against Bad Books, and Plan2Succeed.org.

If a book is truly not "age-appropriate," there are almost always mechanisms in place to deal with the work in question. But if the book challenge is merely a case where one parent wants to decide not just what his or her children are reading, but what everyone else's kids are reading too, well, that parent needs to learn that public libraries and public schools exist to serve the entire community, and cater to lots of diverse beliefs. Basically, we all pay the taxes that support these libraries and schools, and every young person is required to attend school; resources should exist to serve all their needs.

This is America, after all, where we're supposed to err on the side of freedom, and letting parents, individuals, and, individual families decide these things for themselves.

But these bannings and challenges are really just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally huge swaths of this country right now in 2006 where public officials -- school and public librarians -- are not allowed, or feel that they're not allowed, to even consider buying a gay teen book. This is de-facto censorship of a different sort: a self-imposed kind.

I used to believe that something like A Handmaid's Tale could never happen in America.

Between the Republican theocrats and these gay book bannings, I now know that it is happening. And we better do something about it, or this really will be the last gay word.

Brent Hartinger is the author of the gay teen novel, Geography Club, which is currently being adapted for the movies. The sequel, The Order of the Poison Oak, is just out in paperback, and his latest novel, Grand & Humble, is in stores now. Explore “Brent's Brain,” his website, at www.brenthartinger.com.