...will their ridiculous behavior never end?

1937 just called, it's time for you to return home to Berlin.

Hope this story gets some national exposure. As a librarian, I know that circulation on challenged books goes through the ROOF when it hits the news. And that only does authors--and readers--good.

Suck to be those librarians right now, though. These fights are draining. Good for that board! I'm proud of them.

The behavior of this group is shameful.

I'll admit that books can influence the way a teen thinks about sexuality. Oddly enough, I was very squeamish (and probably homophobic, to be honest) before I read novels that portrayed homosexual relationships as positively as they portrayed heterosexual ones. Those books changed me greatly, and I'm happy that they did. These parents don't want their kids to be like me; they want them to stay closed to any "dangerous" ideas.

How disgusting.

As a high schooler I found 2 novels about gay teens in the school library (one about girls, one about boys), obviously strategically planted by a wise librarian. That was in the 70s-early 80s. Glad to hear librarians are still doing this for kids. I figured it was a good idea then and seems like it still is now.

This town, and so many others like it, need strong and educated voices to show their support. I grew up in that town and I'm disgusted by what that group is trying to do.

Many many Thank Yous to Salon for doing this article. When I saw the title I thought for sure that I'd be reading about a town somewhere else. But I'm glad it's getting this attention because people need to see and know that small-minded "misunderstandings" like these are far from over. Without books like these I wouldn't be who I am today. They are essential.

Please take the extra step to make your voices and thoughts heard no matter how far away you live. The West Bend Parents for Free Speech have a website. Please check it out and if there's a spot to leave comments/support please do.(http://westbendparentsforfreespeech.webs.com/) Hopefully the more the other group sees just how strong of a reaction there is from so many people in so many places the more they'll realize that they need to open their hearts and minds.

Education. Understanding. Peace.

We take librarians for granted, and this shows how much we shouldn't. I was surprised, RevMom, to read that you found gay-themed books years ago. My daughter is a 16-year-old lesbian, and I've been very grateful to find a good number of books aimed at gay and lesbian teens that both tackle tough issues and entertain. I've read a few of the books I've bought for her; some are freaking hilarious! My local library also carries some good books aimed at the same market.

You just know that a group called the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries is a group of nutters. Safe Libraries? What's an unsafe library? One full of asbestos and polluted drinking water? The only info I could find on the oxymoronic Christian Civil Liberties Union is that they're headquartered in Kansas. Now, I don't want to rag on people in Kansas, but why has that state become such a magnet for the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe of the rightwing of the GOP? (and no, that wasn't a typo back there, I meant the double lunatic fringe.)

In an attempt to support author Francesca Lia Block, I tried to buy Baby Be-Bop on Amazon, but the book was written in 1995, and is no longer in print. I couldn't figure out the publisher.

Why is this hate group suddenly going after the book now, since it's been out for 14 years?

I am seriously asking here: what is with the burning of the books? Is there some kind of thrill with seeing the flames?

Why is this hate group suddenly going after the book now, since it's been out for 14 years?

The answer is that they have to have something, anything to hate and fear; it's the lifeblood of modern rightwing conservatism. No one is forcing them to read this book; it isn't even aimed at the protester's demographic. But as with almost every one of these so-called "Christian" and "Family" groups, their Orwellian reversal of what those words should mean is just sickening. These groups subsist on hatred, fear, paranoia, bigotry and self-imposed ignorance; one wonders what would happen if they got their way and had everything they disagreed with banned or outlawed; what would they do? They clutch their bibles and rend their garments over how offended they are without giving a single compassionate thought to the lonely gay kid who might find solace in this book's story. These are hideous people and it's time for progressives and enlightened people to start pushing back and say enough is enough.

They want a book pulled just because it doens't meet their standards? Gee, that sounds exactly like the same "special rights" they complain gays are asking for. It also sounds like they have no interest in winning over more converts. Book burnings are a sure fire (pun intended) way to guarantee the public turns on you. If these old folks are old enough to remember WW2 then they ought to know what this looks like. The person who made the comment about 1937 Germany isn't too far off. And whose children are they protecting? Their own? If you can't trust your kids not to read a book you tell them not to, then it sounds like you have bigger problems to worry about. As for everyone elses, if they want your advise on how to raise their kids, they'll ask you for it.

has nothing to do with Jesus the Christ:

"As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." [John 15:9-14]

What part of the commandment to love do they not understand ((and no, "we're doing this for other people's own good (taking away their rights) because we love them" isn't any more true than "this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you" has ever been true)).

Don't blame Christianity for the sick, violent, and twisted actions and beliefs of those who use Jesus' name, but know nothing of how he actually lived or what he taught.