Spreading the aloha of Macintosh, Hawaiian music and island culture from the sunset side of Haleakala volcano on the wonderful island of Maui

Last update:
5/2/05; 6:30:37 AM

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Off Subject but Important I really try to keep politics out of this blog, but sometimes an issue is very important and slops over onto the rights of artists and their technology, which is the whole reason I'm still sitting here writing instead of making more coffee or feeding the collie. Read this, pay attention, and remember your history lessons. 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.  (more) 7:04:58 AM    comment []