Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) painted Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias into a corner about the decision to not only approve but endorse pornographic content being given to school children in Illinois. Armed with excerpts from “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, he called Giannoulias on the carpet about the books. Reading from Johnson’s book, he shared a passage where one character promises the other the gold medal bl*w job in their lifetime.
“What are you asking us to do? Are you suggesting that only librarians should decide whether the two books that I just referenced should be available to kids? Is that what you’re saying?” asked Kennedy.
Naturally, Giannoulias was flabbergasted and told him that it doesn’t rest on the librarians, but couldn’t explain who should be saying yes or no. He managed to state that he believed that it should be up to various parents to decide what LGTBQ content is out there. He also tried using classic American literature to support his child porn.
“I’m saying when individual parents are allowed to make a decision of where that line is and ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ which involves a rape scene, should that be pulled from our libraries? I think it becomes a slippery slope.”
As the two debated, Giannoulias explained his line very simply. “Parents, senator, with all due respect, parents absolutely have a say. My parents were immigrants, came to this country, we never checked out books without our parents seeing what books we were reading. They encouraged us to read books.”
Parental responsibility is certainly paramount. Nobody has denied that. However, it is the access to these books that is the problem. While Giannoulias seems to be incapable of understanding this, it’s not the same as when he was a kid.
Now children sit and read these books in the libraries. They can check things out without Mom and Dad seeing them, and more to the point many have cell phones. Mini digital cameras and the internet mean they don’t even need to take it home to be exposed to it.
It’s time we as a nation come together and recognize that there are lines that were once unspoken that have been crossed and now be well-defined. These books certainly make that line clear.
