now i remember why alabama is one of two states i haven't been toooo

[Guest guest]

http://www.cbsnews.com

Alabama Bill Targets Gay Authors

MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 27, 2005

 

A college production tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a

student beaten to death because he was gay.

 

And soon, it could be banned in Alabama.

 

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality

is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS News Correspondent Mark

Strassmann reports, 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. "

 

Books by any gay author would have to go: Tennessee

Williams, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal. Alice Walker's novel

" The Color Purple " has lesbian characters.

 

Allen originally wanted to ban even some Shakespeare. After

criticism, he narrowed his bill to exempt the classics,

although he still can't define what a classic is. Also

exempted now Alabama's public and college libraries.

 

Librarian Donna Schremser fears the " thought police, " would

be patrolling her shelves.

 

" And so the idea that we would have a pristine collection

that represents one political view, one religioius view,

that's not a library, " says Schremser.

 

" I think it's an absolutely absurd bill, " says Mark Potok of

the Southern Poverty Law Center.

 

First Amendment advocates say the ban clearly does amount to

censorship.

 

" It's a Nazi book burning, " says Potok. " You know, it's a

remarkable piece of work. "

 

But in book after book, Allen reads what he calls the

" homosexual agenda, " and he's alarmed.

 

" It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand

for, " says Allen. " And they will do whatever it takes to

reach their goal. "

 

He says he sees this as a line in the sand.

 

In Alabama's legislature, the reviews of Allen's bill are

still out on whether to lower this curtain for good.

 

*****

 

http://www.splcenter.org

Southern Poverty Law Center

What First Amendment?

Alabama State Rep. Gerald Allen is no lawyer. But he must

know that his proposed ban on pro-gay books is unconstitutional

By Catherine E. Smith

 

Alabamians had best stock up on copies of classic

literature, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, Leaves of

Grass and The Color Purple. If State Rep. Gerald Allen has

his way, the books will no longer be available in Alabama

libraries.

 

The Republican legislator from Cottondale has proposed a

prohibition on the use of state resources for the " purchase

of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote

homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. "

 

And Allen isn't alone in his desire to ban literature. The

American Library Association tracked more than 6,000 book

bannings from 1999-2000, many of them based on sexual

orientation content.

 

Allen claims that he wants to " protect " Alabama children

from the " homosexual agenda " and believes that " our culture,

how we know it today, is under attack from every angle. "

Clearly, his bill intends to suppress ideas contained in

materials that are perceived to promote homosexuality.

 

But like so many attempts to ban literature, Allen's

anti-gay bill comes with both practical and legal problems.

How exactly would the State of Alabama define what

constitutes promotion of homosexuality? Who would be

empowered to make those determinations?

 

As Juanita Owens, the director of the Montgomery City-County

Library, told the Birmingham News, " Half the books in the

library could end up being banned. It's all based on how one

interprets the material. "

 

A broad interpretation of Allen's proposed law might ban The

Complete Works of William Shakespeare for the Bard's

slapstick treatment of cross-dressing.

 

Practical matters aside, Allen is certainly aware that his

proposed statute violates a core tenet of the First

Amendment -- it's commonplace knowledge that the government

is prohibited from stifling speech because of its message,

idea or subject matter. [see R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, 505

u.s. 377, 386 (1992)]

 

And Allen's bill represents the most egregious form of

content-based regulation because it is

viewpoint-discriminatory. [see Rosenberger v. Rector and

Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 u.s. 819, 829 (1995)

(explaining that " [v]iewpoint discrimination is . . . an

egregious form of content discrimination " ).]

 

The bill would prohibit only those materials that promote

homosexuality, leaving books that cast homosexuality in a

negative light unscathed and on Alabama bookshelves.

 

The legislator would be wise to take a First Amendment

lesson from his fellow politicians at the city council in

Wichita Falls, Tex. After a long campaign by

special-interest groups, the council passed a resolution

giving 300 library-card holders who had signed an anti-gay

petition the authority to censor two books, Heather Has Two

Mommies and Daddy's Roommate.

 

Within days of the resolution's passage, the two picture

books, which profile families with gay parents, were moved

from the youth section of the public library and placed in

the adult section.

 

Library patrons, individually and on behalf of their

children, filed suit to enjoin the resolution as a violation

of their First Amendment rights. The district court agreed,

finding that " [t]he resolution and the book removals

burdened fully-protected speech on the basis of content and

viewpoint " in violation of the First Amendment. [sund v.

City of Wichita Falls, Texas, 121 f. Supp.2d 530, 547 (n.d.

Tex. 2000).]

 

The law requires that debates on public issues, like

homosexuality, must be " uninhibited, robust and wide-open. "

[New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 u.s. 254, 270 (1964).] And

this means folks like Rep. Allen can't fight the so-called

" homosexual agenda " by legislating state-sanctioned

censorship that drives " positive " gay and lesbian viewpoints

from the marketplace of ideas.

 

Allen's blatantly unconstitutional proposal may earn him

political capital from his anti-gay allies, but it is

Alabama citizens who ultimately will pay the hefty legal

bills their state will certainly incur if Allen's

grandstanding becomes law.

 

 

And Bugs Bunny is a friend of mine

Eating him I'd feel like Frankenstein

Eating flesh seems pretty foul to me