Tennessee Williams Banned in Alabama?

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 10:53am

Alabama Bill Targets Gay Authors

MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 27, 2005


A college production tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a student beaten to death because he was gay.

And soon, it could be banned in Alabama.

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.

"I don't look at it as censorship," says State Representative Gerald Allen. "I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children."

Books by any gay author would have to go: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal. Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple" has lesbian characters.

Allen originally wanted to ban even some Shakespeare. After criticism, he narrowed his bill to exempt the classics, although he still can't define what a classic is. Also exempted now Alabama's public and college libraries.

Librarian Donna Schremser fears the "thought police," would be patrolling her shelves.

"And so the idea that we would have a pristine collection that represents one political view, one religioius view, that's not a library,' says Schremser.

"I think it's an absolutely absurd bill," says Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

First Amendment advocates say the ban clearly does amount to censorship.

"It's a Nazi book burning," says Potok. "You know, it's a remarkable piece of work."

But in book after book, Allen reads what he calls the "homosexual agenda,"
and he's alarmed.

"It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for," says Allen. "And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal."

He says he sees this as a line in the sand.

In Alabama's legislature, the reviews of Allen's bill are still out on whether to lower this curtain for good.

Updated On: 4/28/05 at 10:53 AM

[Matchi]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:22am

It truly sickened me to read that article. I remember a post about this some time ago and can't believe it is still being considered.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:25am

ummm... does he plan to ban the Bible too? Mutiple marriages, infidelities, fratricide, whores abound....

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:27am

Of course not, Cookie!

Cause in THAT book, the God smotes the fags!

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:27am

AARRGGG!! :Stomps around the Library: :Pulls hair out:

Okay now I'm done and heading over the the ALA site to see what they're going to do about this.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:30am

but adultery, mass killings, and whores abound are good for the hearts and minds of our children?

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:33am

I found this on the Internet, and I LOVE IT!!!

........................................................

What's the big deal? This is actually a GIFT.

John, you're missing a great opportunity here. Let's actually encourage their insanity.

LET THE BIGOTS ban Noel Coward. LET THEM BURN Tennessee Williams' plays. LET THEM BAN West Side Story (Bernstein, Laurents, Sondheim). Eliminate the whole Sondheim catalogue for that matter. I guess this means banning Plato, too.

Why stop at literature? Let's ban Cole Porter. And no more Christmas Nutcracker performances (Tchaikovsky). No more Messiahs and Halleljuah Choruses (Handel). While we're at it, remove anything about or by Michelangelo. And of course, everything ever written by Aaron Copland.

I'm only scratching the surface. Let's go for it! Let's make it nice and public. Can you imagine FOX News when we burn a copy of the Sistine Chapel's "Creation" in front of an Alabama public school??

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:35am

That's just your homosexual agenda-focused revisionist history claiming them is all faggots, Windy City! Yee-haw! Go prejudice and hate!

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:06pm

When the first "book burning" legislation was proposed, I talked to my parents about "those crazy americans".

My dad thought it was a good idea, he didn't want any kids reading "crap like that" either.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:11pm

LOL. Doxy, we really ARE the same person.
My dad believes much the same...

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:15pm

I like Christians, I'm certainly not a christianaphobe, but sometimes they just drive me bananas...

OUTLAWING TENNESSEE WILLIAMS?!?!?!?!

yee-haw!

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:20pm

Cookie,

As long as the pee pee goes in the giney...EVERYTHING'S A-OK!

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:26pm

robbie.....where does the pee pee go? Can you show me please..I'm so confused !!!

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:27pm

cuz you know, that Noah was one fine upstanding citizen....

[Plum]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:41pm

Hmm. If this ever reaches the federal court system, I'm wondering if Board of Education v. Pico will apply, or if the Hazelwood case will just totally annihalate that. Pico basically said that removing books for political or ideological purposes wasn't allowed because it violated student freedom of expression rights, but you could do it if the books are vulgar or based on other pedagogical reasons. Somehow, I don't think a book or play merely written by a gay author is going to fall under "vulgar" or "pedagogically inappropriate." Not at the Circuit Court level.

And the lawmakers are clearly looking at constitutional objections when they leave out public and college libraries- if they'd left them in the law would have been struck down so fast their heads would still be spinning a year later.
Updated On: 4/28/05 at 12:41 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:43pm

It's the absurdity of things like this that will actually progress gay civil rights. Most Americans will see that this is taking things WAY too far. Legislation like this won't stand.

I think that just maybe this new trend of "it's ok to gay bash" is going to massively backfire.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:43pm

Plum, that's why we have to hurry and eliminate the filibuster, then make sure the entire Supreme Court dies or retires (well, except for that crazy Eye-talian the colored Republican) and get REAL judges appointed to the courts. You know, people like Stone Cold Steve Austin, who spent their entire lives wearing a speedo and touching hot, naked men, but how isn't gay! And will put the smack down on anythign that even looks gay.

Except the Bible. And WWE.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:47pm

speedos ride up with wear

[Plum]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:51pm

See, there's a funny thing about federal judges- the ones who have lifetime terms, especially. They do their own thing, and none of them (at least that I've seen) fit into one political mode. That's why DeLay and the legislative branch Republicans in general are so pissed at the judicial branch- it doesn't play politics enough for them. Even though most judges nowadays are Republican-appointed, they're not politicians who vote the party line every time. And that pisses off...well, the politicians.

I'm not denying that judges have political ideologies- of course they do. But often their legal ideologies interfere with them. I've found myself nodding in agreement with Scalia and Thomas, who are about as righty as they come, a lot more often than I ever thought I would. And the Court has absolutely treasured free speech for decades now- it's considered a sacred right. Well, so to speak.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, judges don't always do what you expect them to do. Earl Warren, after all, was appointed by Eisenhower. Nowadays, O'Connor doesn't exactly toe the line her appointer Reagan would have wanted her to about abortion. And don't even get me started on Kennedy, another Reagan appointee. Bush, Congressional Republicans, and the right wing in general, I think, have reached the peak of their power and are going to start their slow decline right about now. The fact that they're pushing at the Supreme Court- which is more than able to push back, thank you very much- is a sign that they're going too far.
Updated On: 4/28/05 at 12:51 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 2:29pm

I am all for this! I think it needs to be 100% enforced-- if you want to bash gays, then damnit, you live without them! Gays should burn the Sistine Chapel and destroy every work of religious art- shield Pope Benedict from the work of those sinners, and deprive the church of their #1 tourist attractions. You think Spongebob is gay? Then park your kids in front of Davey & Goliath, bub and turn off all those kids programs created by gays & their pals.

The #1 program among women who voted for George Bush is "Will & Grace." "The Best of Times" from La Cage was played at the Republican National Convention. "Desparate Housewives" is more popular in the "Red States" than the Blue. Conservative Housewives everywhere love the "Ellen Degeneres Show."

No more! If you want to live under the grey banner of conservative Christian politics you don't get to laugh at our jokes or hum our showtunes. You give these bastards two weeks of watching Fear Factor and listening to Pat Boone records and they'll come running!

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 2:36pm

Not to mention...whose gonna style and spray all that "Big Hair?"

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 2:41pm

If there were that many gay hairstylists in Texas, they would NOT let that many women get away with such god-awful hair.

OH, wait, their hair is god-awful. Does that mean it has to burn too? I hope so!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 2:53pm

Didn't I read a story last week about a woman in Alabama (or was it ARK) who called the police on her husband and they found him having sex with his sister?

Seems to me that state has other things to worry about.

Updated On: 4/29/05 at 02:53 PM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 4:10pm

there is no way the school librarians of Alabama will allow this to happen.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 4:51pm

Underground Libraries, anyone?