I came across this gem of an article from The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania this morning.

It centers around two outraged parents complaining about a book called King and King (originally in Dutch) by Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland. There’s a horrifying twist at the end of this book. The prince marries the… prince! And they kiss! It’s a good thing the offended mother handled the surprise nicely, though. Quote:

I was sick.

Oh… Nevermind… It goes on:

”I just want kids to enjoy their innocence and their time of growing up,” Jeff Issa said, explaining his persistence. ”Let them be kids … and not worry about homosexuality, race, religion. Just let them live freely as kids.”

Is it even possible to get more misguided?

Two people who are in love and who kiss each other on their wedding day makes you sick…?

Something tells me their kids would handle this book a lot better than they did themselves, but the sad thing is, because the parents have these dangerous notions, their kids are going to grow up feeling the same way, instead of becoming tolerant, accepting and enlightened human beings.

Fortunately, the library is not budging:

Kathee Rhode, the library’s director, said censoring books based on subject matter is the duty of parents, not the library. She said the library strives to provide material representing a spectrum of views and ways of life.

I should say so!

Oh, well, let’s forget about all of this nonsense and move to Oklahoma instead!

Lawmakers in Oklahoma voted last year to withhold state funding from public libraries that don’t place books containing homosexual themes in a separate section in response to complaints about ”King & King” and other books.

Uh… Maybe not.

Technorati Tags: Books, Censorship, Children’s Books, Politics