Dear Felice Picano, "The Joy of Gay Sex" Co-Author

Dear Felice Picano, co-author of "The Joy of Gay Sex":

Hi. I'm Dan Kleinman from SafeLibraries.org. Would you mind if I asked you some questions?

First, let me tell you that I am aware of various library controversies regarding one of your books, namely, "The Joy of Gay Sex." I have read the email you wrote to Paul Cohen of Helena, MT, dated 23 Sept 2008. I have written on this matter myself, including republishing your email in the comments (since it was already published), and I included my own back and forth with Paul Cohen, with his permission. You can see that all here: "Lewis and Clark's Gay Adventure; Helena, MT, and the Homosexuality Red Herring," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries.org, 21 Sept. 2008.

My questions for you are these, and all of these are seeking your opinion:

1. What is your recommended minimum age for a reader of "The Joy of Gay Sex"?
2. Would it be appropriate for a public library to restrict access to your book to those who fall below that minimum age?
3. How best do you think access should be restricted?
4. To your knowledge, how have various libraries restricted access to your book and for what reasons?
5. Do you believe a community may decide for itself at what age a book is inappropriate for children in that community's public library?
   
6. If not, who should make that decision and why?
   
7. Do you believe a community may decide for itself the method of restricting access to material for those under a certain age?
8. If not, who should make that decision and why?
9. I personally feel the issue of homosexuality is irrelevant to the matter of what material may be inappropriate for children vis-a-vis public libraries. Do you feel similarly? Why or why not?
   
10. The US Supreme Court said, "The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree," while the defendant and losing party in that case, United States v. American Library Association, said despite that, policy will remain unchanged, children must be about to access any and all material without any age restriction whatsoever. Do you believe "protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling"?
11. If not, why not?
12. Is there anything else you would like to add?
    

May I publish your responses? Perhaps co-author Dr. Silverstein would care to answer these questions as well?

I thank you very much for your time and attention.

Lewis and Clark's Gay Adventure; Helena, MT, and the Homosexuality Red Herring

Many on both sides of an issue at the Lewis & Clark Library in Helena, MT, are taking a common library concern and exacerbating it by raising the red herring of homosexuality.  The library's collection contains "The Joy of Gay Sex."  Access to it by children is not restricted in any way, causing a controversy.  However, obvious overtones of homosexuality are causing people to lose focus on the underlying legitimate interest.  As the US Supreme Court put it in United States v. American Library Assocation, "The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree."  Apparently, like "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," we are now on "Lewis & Clark's Gay Adventure," and US v. ALA is just a George Carlin joke.

Paul Cohen is the person who raised the matter about the book in the first place.  He realizes "this principle applies whether homosexual or heterosexual."  But many of his supporters, detractors, and those in the media are turning this issue into one about homosexuality.  Linked here are a number of media reports on this Helena, MT, library matter.

It is my opinion those who support his position are raising concerns about homosexuality out of a misunderstanding of the purposes of public libraries.  But those who oppose his position raise concerns about homosexuality knowing it is a red herring.

For example, in an analogous situation, parents in a public school in Howell, MI, complained about a book because it contained, among other things, bestiality.  The American Library Association [ALA] implied those parents were racist for opposing the book containing bestiality because the author is "black."  The public school, now chastised by the ALA for being racist, chose to keep the bestiality book available for students.  So much for local control.

And look at the title of that article: "Group Targets Black Authors' Books."  It is like the titles of stories now circulating, e.g., "Library Holds Hearing on Gay-Sex Book," Associated Press, 18 September 2008.  What a difference it would make if the titles were unbiased: "Group Targets Books Containing Bestiality"; "Library Holds Hearing on Book Deemed Inappropriate for Children."  I made this very observation evident to the Howell community, but the ALA is too intimidating, so it often gets away with bullying tactics, such as calling people racist.  

Do the people of Helena, MT, want to suffer the same fate?  Does the existence of some "anti-gay" people or an inartfully-framed argument mean children should continue to be exposed to inappropriate material despite the US Supreme Court, the law, and common sense?  There are perfectly reasonable and legal means to restrict children's access to inappropriate materials in public libraries.  If Paul Cohen did not make this case well enough, that does not mean nothing should be done.  Helena citizens should set aside library misinformation and biased media reports and editorials and take action accordingly.  (One editorial even promoted the ALA's "Banned Books Week," which Thomas Sowell calls "National Hogwash Week.")

I recommend people on all sides drop the issue of homosexuality since it is irrelevant to the matter of protecting children from material inappropriate for minors.  I realize those who support Paul Cohen will find this tough medicine to swallow, and those who oppose him will continue to use the homosexuality angle as the red herring it is.  After all, calling parents racists worked in keeping the children exposed to bestiality, so why not follow the ALA's lead and call people bigots?

By the way, Paul Cohen has created an excellent resource on this "Joy of Gay Sex" matter.  It is excellent because it contains the opinions of people on all sides of this issue.  See "Summary of the Public Hearing with Paul's Commentary."  A similar article presenting all sides of an issue that I had made available, "Ban the Bunnies," was used as course material in the #1 library and information science Ph.D. school in the USA.  Thank you, Paul Cohen, for making this useful resource available.