A "Gay book ban" has been proposed in a bill by Republican Representative Gerald Allen, in the state of Alabama. Books with gay characters and textbooks "suggesting that homosexuality is natural" would be banned from libraries and schools.
Other great ideas promoted by Mr. Allen include laws requiring women to wear Burqas and prohibiting men from shaving their beards. It's moments like this that I wonder what "Freedom and Democracy in Iraq" is going to mean.
Now... I'm not sure if this is scarier, or just as scary...
From the Washington Post:
Some Abstinence Programs Mislead Teens, Report Says
Some of the items that are being taught to children in government sponsored "abstinence only" sex-ed programs -- using our tax dollars -- are flatly false an out of step with medical knowledge on the subject. What makes this creepier than driver's-ed style hyperbole is that these kids are being left unable to protect themselves, should they fall off of the abstinence bandwagon. Maybe even more infuriating is that it's MY tax dollars that are paying for "culture war" propaganda in our children's classrooms.
A few low-lights:
Among the misconceptions cited by Waxman's investigators:
• A 43-day-old fetus is a "thinking person."
• HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be spread via sweat and tears.
• Condoms fail to prevent HIV transmission as often as 31 percent of the time in heterosexual intercourse.
One curriculum, called "Me, My World, My Future," teaches that women who have an abortion "are more prone to suicide" and that as many as 10 percent of them become sterile.
If I heard that someone had tried to tell Ana Tobin this, there would definitely be a parent-teacher conference:
Some course materials cited in Waxman's report present as scientific fact notions about a man's need for "admiration" and "sexual fulfillment" compared with a woman's need for "financial support." One book in the "Choosing Best" series tells the story of a knight who married a village maiden instead of the princess because the princess offered so many tips on slaying the local dragon. "Moral of the story," notes the popular text: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess."
The kicker:
Alma Golden, deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that Waxman's report is a political document that does a "disservice to our children." Speaking as a pediatrician, Golden said, she knows "abstaining from sex is the most effective means of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV, STDs and preventing pregnancy."
And it seems that government-sponsored misinformation is threatening to become a leading cause of ignorance.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some letters to write.
1 comment:
Wow... I'm especially upset by the banning gay books thing. It's not like Genet and Edmund White are being taught in schools. Whose book is this guy trying to get out of the curriculum? I can't think of a single book with gay characters that I was *forced* to read in high school (except maybe Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer... That's just a pet theory of mine BTW.)
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