Utah Librarians fear bad precedent set by censoring book featuring two moms
“I feel that history is not going to look favorably on this. In 20 years, we’re going to look and think ‘How could we ever have thought that?’” said DaNae Leu, media specialist at Snow Horse Elementary School in Utah about limiting access to In Our Mothers’ House. “Ethically, I don’t feel right about it. I feel like the book is age-appropriate. I know it’s available upon asking, but it’s also available under a stigma…I feel like Joe McCarthy is asking me to name names.” Leu said librarians are being asked to supply names of books that contain gay and lesbian characters.
Also marked for removal is And Tango Makes Three, the story of a pair of male penguins who sit on an egg at a zoo until it hatches; and Totally Joe, a book for ages 10 and up about a teenager who is gay.
Many librarians are frustrated about the situation, she said, but are nervous about speaking out because they fear reprisals.
