This week’s column in the Chron is No (Lesbian) Sex In The Stacks, including a funny interview with Felice Newman. There is much mail on this, about christianity, lesbianism and sex books in public libraries — I’ve included all of it, positive and negative, after the jump. That said, I want to mention two things before you read it. One, parts of my column, and my writing, was changed without my permission before this was posted. I am furious. Two, I did have hesitation about taking such a general swipe at christians’ sex-positivity. It fit the piece, though I did know I’d upset my christian friends (and, yes, I do have christian friends). I’m of two minds — that tolerant christians need to become louder and more visible than their fundamentalist counterparts, and that from now on, I’m going to use the word “fundamentalist” more, heh, liberally.
For my sweeping generalization, I apologize. For calling Adams the twattiest kind of christian, I do not. And — my flight is delayed, so I’m posting this at SFO. Thunderstorms in Houston. Alright, snip:
It probably started out like any other serene, sunny, safely heterosexual day in the Bentonville Public Library. But the lives of some Bentonville, Ark., residents changed forever on that fateful day, after a wrong turn down the dark back alley of a card catalog led to a nefarious lesbian sex guide that would steal their innocence, stain them with the gay agenda and probably totally show them where the G-spot was. We can only begin to imagine the harrowing ordeal Earl Adams and his 14- and 16-year-old sons, Kyle and Ryan, went through after the boys discovered “The Whole Lesbian Sex Book” — an ordeal fraught with anatomical drawings and lesbian relationship advice at the hands, nay, lubed fists, of local lesbian author Felice Newman. Unfortunately, it’s an ordeal that resulted in the book’s removal and a threatened lawsuit for obscenity.
Two weeks ago, “The Whole Lesbian Sex Book” was removed from the Bentonville library shelves at the e-mail request of Earl Adams, after his sons allegedly had found the sex guide while browsing for “military academy” reading materials. It no doubt took the boys hours of page-turning trauma in the stacks to fully register their horror — and we can only guess that once they learned about female ejaculation, the damage was done.
Being a concerned father who would in no way want his adolescent sons exposed to any shred of accurate sex information outside of the abstinence curriculum in public schools, or examples of lesbianism that conflict with what his sons will later pay to see in strip clubs across town, Adams initially e-mailed a complaint to Library Director Cindy Suter. She responded by relocating the book to a less accessible spot, perhaps in the football-field-size NSFC (Not Safe for Christians) section.
But for Adams, the threat posed by the safer-sex sections in “The Whole Lesbian Sex Book” evidently plagued him night and day. When he tucked his sons in at night, visions of happy lesbians with strap-ons danced in their heads, he was sure of it. Adams sent a deliciously retro letter and fax to Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin, threatening a lawsuit if the book were not removed, a book Adams said was “patently offensive and lacks any artistic, literary or scientific value” (neatly copying and pasting from the Wikipedia entry on the Miller test, minus the inconvenient “political value” part).
Link.
Readers’ response, so far, after the jump.
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Violet,
I’ve been reading your column for several months now, and I appreciate the information and opinions that you present. I almost always learn something and you’re always amusing, usually balanced and never disagreeable.
You seem to have missed a key point in this week’s column, however. I fully support the inclusion and availability of every book ever written in public libraries. As a parent, though, I think libraries should provide some kind of reasonable “controls” on items that would normally be considered adult matter, kind of like the adult section in a bookstore or video store, or the covered items in a magazine rack.
There is a gray area here, no doubt. Some parents don’t want their pre-teen or young teen kids reading the Kama Sutra and The Whole Lesbian Sexbook, while others are just as rabid about Tom Sawyer and the Teletubbies.
Libraries cannot and should not be the watchdogs of society. Parents are responsible for their kids. Put adult material in an adult section of the library, and allow anyone in that’s 18 or older or with a parent. That should be a reasonable compromise for everyone.
Having said that, the guy in Arkansas is behaving like an intolerant, opportunistic jerk. That’s the real story.
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Good morning Violet,
I enjoyed your interview and reflections on The Whole Lesbian Sex Book. As a librarian and an ordained Christian Deacon in the Episcopal Church it was particularly interesting to discover what some people consider unfit reading for their children.
But please quit using the word “Christian” as if we Christian’s all represented some bible-thumping, hillbilly, patriarchal unity that hates women and sex. Some of us celebrate sexuality and support our lesbian sisters.
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Subject: “Fisting Lesbians” and other Non-Scientific Bullshit
I think the whole thing smacks of perversion. It’s understandable that some women may not know their own bodies as well as your fisting hero thinks they should. They most likely did not lay about in bed for years playing with themselves or their girlfriends like Miss Newman. Venturing another guess, I figure she also has some technical instruction in anatomy from some prestigious University, one that taught her about the anus and G-spot. I’m sure this education coupled with her natural interest in people of the same sex has made it impossible to leave it in the bedroom, or the adult book store. It appears that Miss Newman is bent on shoving her ideas (fantasy) down the hetero throats of the rest of the community with your help.
It’s cute how you think that all men/boys are drawn to lesbians, naturally the ones you speak of are beautiful blonde things that no “real” lesbian has a shot at (lets keep it real). These girls perform for men by doing things with women. They are not lesbians, they are girls gone wild, actresses. Being from the Bay Area, I see the real lesbians all the time, walking like men who’s muscles are so built up they appear to be carrying invisible sleeping bags under their arms, or the ones who stare at God-made men with anger and contempt. The minute you look at them, they hit you with all the hate their jealous little one-track-minds can muster. Trust me, they know nothing about sex and lots about perversion, they should ask men how it’s done instead of pretending to write or should I say re-write the book.
I do not see gay/lesbian sex as dirty or perverse, quite the contrary. If it’s what you like and identify with then so be it, just keep it in the bedroom. One piece of advice I would give lesbians, stop treating God-made men like we know nothing about women. You would be much better off asking our advice I would think, based on the fact that we have been conducting serious scientific research on women for millions of years. I see frustrated lesbians often, so until Miss Newman has succeeded in making all the lesbians happy with her fist, I think we should reserve judgment on the scientific value of her dirty books. Afterall, if it were a scientific book meant for educating then I don’t think the two of you would have had so much fun making fun of this man and his sons. It really offends me that you would make it obvious that you feel this man was wrong or blowing it out of proportion, you are pretending to think that what you know and believe is better than his thoughts and beliefs in regards to raising his sons. I’d bet my money on Dad against Lumber-dyke any day. I’d be willing to bet that his sons are far better off than the children of Miss Newman. In fact, I would be willing to guarantee that she and her mighty fist have yet to impregnate any woman, there-fore making it impossible for her to know what parenting in this day and age are like. IF she has children, I’d be interested in how well adjusted they are or are they busy fisting and anus-playing to their heart content too. While you guys keep it down there in the gutter, the rest of us will continue populating the planet with our real penis’ and testicles. My gay uncle said it best, “If you want to be treated as equal, and have the same rights as those whom you resent, then shut-up, take if off the streets and put it back between the sheets”.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH for today’s column!
I’m a newly converted lesbian at the tender age of 40. I never knew of this book and will certainly be purchasing ASAP. I was also wondering if you new of any books that specifically address the Lesbian experience from an African-American woman’s prospective? I’m not finding much at all.
Namaste,
