Fire In The Disco

"You always dread the unfamiliar... We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other, then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of a well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute." - Captain Beatty, Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)

Hmmm... people just keep wanting to give Bradbury's book-burnin' firemen jobs. Currently, it's the state of Alabama. Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle, and under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters. "I don't look at it as censorship," says State Representative Gerald Allen. "I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children." (read article here.)

He wants to kick out works by Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Alice Walker, and some Shakespeare. Allen believes that these books have a homosexual agenda, which isn't healthy for America.

Groups of gay and lesbian voters have turned out in Montgomery to voice their opinions about this bill, expressing that the measure is essentially a manifestation of hatred.

"We're not all crazy people, doing crazy things. We are your brothers and sisters, your aunts and uncles. We go to church with you. And the message I get from you is, 'We hate you,'" Patricia Todd said during the hearing before the House Education Committee. (read article here.)

Rock on, Patricia. There is a reason why these works are considered classics and important. It's because they are thought provoking, creative, engaging and challenging. It's because THEY ARE GOOD. Not because they are "gay."