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11/21/2005


Gay Book Banned Because the Internet is Scary

Geography_clubBrent Hartinger's novel Geography Club, which chronicles the relationship of a lonely gay student and an online chat buddy who turns out to be an athlete at his high school, has been pulled from a Tacoma, Washington area school district's library shelves.

The superintendent who made the decision explained that it was not the book's gay content that alarmed her, but the fact that the internet was used as a way for people to meet. Said the super: "We want to send a strong consistent message to all our students that meeting individuals via the Internet is extremely high-risk behavior. To the extent that this book might contradict that message, I have determined it should not be in our libraries, in spite of other positive aspects."

Geography Club was lauded by other parents in the district, however, who were confused by the message that the school district was now sending. Said parent Connie Clausen, "It is about gay students. However, the most important part of the book is that it's about bullying, outcasts, about tolerance. This is a really good book for any student to read."

The main characters in Hartinger's novel end up creating the "Geography Club" as a front for a place they can meet free from intolerance and discrimination. The question in my mind is, would the superintendent still want this book off the shelves if it were a group of heterosexual students using the internet to form a club of their own?

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Posted 9:54 AM EST by Andy in Print Media | Permalink

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Comments

  1. kids are going to use the internet to meet people regardless of whether or not they read about it in a book. the superintendent seems to think that by removing any mention of this evil internet, the internet will go away also. not likely, lady. besides, if kids are in fact meeting each other on the internet (very likely), it might be useful to talk about it, say through the terms of a book like this.

    Posted by: Jason | Nov 21, 2005 10:12:09 AM


  2. I met my partner of 8 years via the internet. I even got a job once through monster.com. Reasonable people will and should screen every social interaction for personal security and propriety. Duh!

    Posted by: Bobby | Nov 21, 2005 10:39:05 AM


  3. I don't buy this bs - it's homophobic, and they're just trying to pin it on the internet crap (which is scary in it's own right)

    Posted by: ryan | Nov 21, 2005 12:21:14 PM


  4. The worst part about this nonsense is that they're pulling a genuinely compelling, well-written book. Hopefully this publicity will put it into even more people's hands.

    Posted by: cafegogo | Nov 21, 2005 1:39:56 PM


  5. >>meeting individuals via the Internet is extremely high-risk behavior.

    It's true. The Internet can be a very dangerous place for the naive. The solution to the problem is not banning a book. The solution is EDUCATION. Perversely enough, it seems to be a school which has chosen book banning, in place of education.

    We need qualified, intelligent teachers in our classrooms. Teacher certification and and end to teacher tenure are the only way to rid the system of the dead-wood.

    Posted by: Jay Croce | Nov 21, 2005 3:23:17 PM


  6. I find it difficult to accept that this is the ONLY book in their library that mentions meeting someone online.

    Christ, "You've Got Mail" is on tv every other damned weekend.

    How totally idi-fucking-odic.

    Posted by: Matthew | Nov 22, 2005 12:51:29 AM


  7. Ooops - I hope my potty mouth doesn't get me banned. Sorry! I get a little mouthy when I get pissed.

    Posted by: Matthew | Nov 22, 2005 12:52:57 AM


  8. Yes EXACTLY Matthew! You took the words right out of my mouth "You've Got Mail"or what about their other famous one "Sleepless in Seattle"? Now, I know that was done through a phone in show, but they weren't really able to actually know who the person was on the other end of the line! It's absurd and clearly homophobic. What an idiotic superintendent.

    Posted by: Carl | Dec 30, 2005 4:43:40 PM


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