Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN VOICE
OCTOBER 14/1993
"Heather" not in Atlanta's libraries
But library officials insist
the decision was based on
the books’s quality, not its
lesbian-positive message.
Atlanta—The lesbian-positive book “Heather
Has Two Mommies” has been attacked, and in a
few cases removed from the shelves, in commu
nities across the nation.
But here in Atlanta, people who want to
check “Heather Has Two Mommies” out of any
of the libraries in the Atlanta-Fulton Public Li
brary system are also out of luck.
However, librarians insist their decision not
to carry “Heather” has nothing to do with homo
phobia. The book, they say, is just too dull and
confusing.
In 1990, the Atlanta-
Fulton Library’s collections
management committee re
jected both “Heather” and an
other often-attacked book,
“Daddy’s Roommate,” which
is about a boy’s relationship
with his father and his father’s
male lover. Judith Lunsford, a
spokesperson for the library,
said the rejections were based
largely on poor or lukewarm
reviews in trade publications
and inspections of the books
by committee members. The
review committee also “expressed concerns that
some of [“Daddy’s Roommate’s”] illustrations
stereotyped gay men,” she said.
But after at least two intown library users
requested a reconsideration, the committee de
cided to make “Daddy’s Roommate” available
earlier this year.
“The second time around, they decided the
information was more important than those con
cerns,” said Lunsford. But the committee again
rejected “Heather,” citing the book’s “dry, stiff’
text and “dull” illustrations.
In a letter to the library users who requested
the reconsideration, Mary Jane French, acting
chair of the committee, said that subject matter
HEATHER HAS
TWO MOMMIES
J*.
WRITTEN BY
LESI LA NEWM AN
of the book—Heather was conceived by artifi
cial insemination and lives in a two-lesbian fam
ily—was “presented in a confusing way for the
intended age level of the book, ages 2-5,” and
the text and illustrations were of poor quality.
“On balance, committee members felt that
too many important, complex topics were forced
together in a story whose purported central mes
sage—that there arc many kinds of families and
that this is normal and OK—seems to get lost,”
wrote French.
One library user, who asked that she remain
anonymous, told Southern Voice she was sur
prised to fmd that the library did not include
those books on the shelves.
“One of the principles of intellectual free
dom is that materials involved in public debate
should be freely available,” she said. “And the
library is the place for that.”
Both “Heather” and
“Daddy’s Roommate” have
been the targets of the Chris
tian right in numerous library
systems across the country,
with fundamentalists fighting
to keep such gay/lesbian-posi
tive literature out of the hands
of children. Lunsford said cen
sorship played no role in the
committee’s decision to reject
“Heather.”
“This is not a matter of
wanting to keep any kind of
book out,” she said. “It’s a
matter of keeping good, quality information on
the subject in.”
“Heather” is not the only book to be rejected
on the basis of quality, said Lunsford. Other
rejected materials include “Bear Goes to Town”
by Anthony Brown and “Bungee the Helicop
ter” by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
Both Lunsford and French, agree that the
library’s collections are sparse when it comes to
books for younger children on “alternate
lifestyles.”
“We are actively trying to seek more books,”
said Lunsford.
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DIANA SOUZA
Ingram
Continued from page 3
thing,” Ingram said. “I thought, I cannot sit here
silently and allow them to continue this policy
without saying something.”
He wrote to Roth to express his disagree
ment with the anti-gay policy. Roth wrote back,
wrongly assuming that Ingram wanted to resign,
and told him resignation was not possible. But if
he would confirm his sexual orientation in writ
ing, “I will direct that separation proceedings.. .be
initiated without delay,” Roth wrote.
Ingram did, and those proceedings began in
December, resulting in the recommendation to
remove him from the service. That recommen
dation now goes to Roth, and must be approved
by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the
Secretary of the Army.
Ingram, who has worked for 10 years as a
management information specialist at Georgia
Tech, said that he intends to fight the recom
mendation and the discharge if it is approved.
“I took an oath when I enlisted to defend the
Constitution against all enemies, foreign and
domestic,” he said. “The only thing I’ve done is
to uphold my oath of enlistment.”
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