Book Banning Rears Ugly Head in Washington State
The saga of a gay high school sophomore (Russell Middlebrook) with a crush on a baseball jock, Kevin Land, whom he discovers to be gay, Geography Club is an awarded, critically-praised Young Adult tome about the impossible years. Among many honors, Geography Club was a 2003 Lambda Literary Award Finalist and a Booklist “Top Ten Best First Young Adult Novel!”
On Sunday, November 20, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Tacoma, Washington’s University Place School District had removed Geography Club from its library shelves following parents’ complaints.
Superintendent Patti Banks said she was alarmed by the “romanticized” portrayal of a teen meeting a stranger at night in a park after first meeting the person – revealed to be a gay classmate – in an Internet chat-room.
“We want to send a strong consistent message to all our students that meeting individuals via the Internet is extremely high-risk behavior,” Banks wrote earlier to concerned parents.
“To the extent that this book might contradict that message, I have determined that it should not be in our libraries, in spite of other positive aspects (e.g. strong anti-harassment theme).”
Explaining further her decision to ban Geography Club, Superintendent Banks told the Seattle Times, “I was influenced by a recent special on MSNBC on the dangers of Internet predators.”
Banks claims she wasn’t swayed by gay themes, telling the Times that she is disturbed by “the immediate assumption that if a book features gay characters, (criticism) must be homophobia run amok. In my case, nothing could be further from the truth.”
Brent Hartinger was ready with an essay response to the district’s ban. It was published by the Tacoma News Tribune.com., November 22, and picked up by other websites, including The Advocate. In part, Hartinger wrote, “It’s hard not to take it personally when a school district bans your book.
“My character is clearly fully aware of the dangers of the Internet chat rooms and sexual predators. He only agrees to meet the other character after exchanging information that confirms that he is, in fact, another student at his high school.
“My book hasâÂ?¦.received almost unanimous rave reviews, won many honors, and is currently being adapted for the movies – and this is the first time I’ve ever heard this particular concern.
“âÂ?¦.I don’t think the Internet scene is the real reason my book is being banned.
“âÂ?¦.There is something in almost every book that will offend someone, somewhere. And if you exclude all the books in which the main character does something that someone thinks is ‘questionable,’ or even outright dumb, you’ve got library shelves that are effectively bare.
“This level of scrutiny won’t be given to all books, just books like mine, ones that deal with hot-button cultural issues like homosexuality.
“One of the many ironies of this whole situation is the fact that the only reason my character is in that chat roomâÂ?¦.is because he believes he can’t be open at his school – attitudes which are being reinforced in University Place by banning my book.”
With the essay, Hartinger is both speaking his mind and hoping the ban will be lifted. He’s working with locals to reverse the decision, and, next month, Brent will speak at a school district meeting at which they’ll consider ending the ban.
The author’s activism goes way beyond his own career interests. Over Thanksgiving Weekend, Hartinger told us, “It’s really not about my book at all. If every parent in every school district gets a veto on what books are allowed in the library that means the whole idea of library is meaningless.”
As for Geography Club, its creator is concerned that the University Place ban could pave the way for others. “The book has been challenged repeatedly, usually unsuccessfully, because of the gay theme,” he tells afterelton.com. “It concerns me that other groups are going to try to use the Internet scene as an excuse to ban the book, knowing that it worked once. It’s important that the rest of the country see that even in the very conservative community of University Place that fig leaf of an excuse does not work.”
About the criteria for book banning, Brent states emphatically, “The bar should be very, very high.”
He continues: “My book had good reviews, good peer reviews from other librarians, and a good reaction from teens. That’s the case with virtually every book in a school library. My book had already gone through the usual vetting process, and it was apparently pretty popular. It would have stayed in the library indefinitely if two parents hadn’t complained. And, let’s be clear: they complained initially about the gay theme, without even having read the book. They don’t want any gay book in the library. It was only after the PTA said that wasn’t reason enough to pull a book that they went to the superintendent with these other complaints, including the Internet scene.”
Book banning is bad enough, but it’s only one manifestation of something much more insidious: the sharp right turn America has taken in the 21st Century. This orgy of American conservatism troubles greatly the author.
“Let me put it this way,” he tells us. “My partner (Michael Jensen) and I have applied to immigrate to Canada. We may or may not go through with it – we have three years to decide – but I’ve been so appalled by these last few years. Think about the national “debates” we’re having these days. Whether or not we should be teaching evolution in science classes? Whether it means you hate America and the troops if you criticize the president? Whether saying ‘Season’s Greetings’ to someone is religious discrimination? Whether we should TORTURE people, or keep citizens in prison indefinitely without even accusing them of a crime?
“I mean, are you fricking kidding me? I don’t recognize my country, and it’s gotten bad so quickly. It makes me think I was mistaken about this country to begin with – that we never really believed in the great democratic principles of our founding fathers, or that we haven’t believed them for a long, long time.”
Hartinger does admit to a cautious optimism: “People are finally waking up, but I don’t take too much comfort in that. I mean, what the hell does it take?”
The Geography Club debate continues with most debaters favoring the reinstatement of the book in the University Place School District’s libraries.
In Saturday’s Seattle Times, reader Kelly Milner Halls opined, “Book banning won’t do.
“In censoring the book, Banks has loosed a more dangerous message – a message that disregards the United States Supreme Court’s value and judgments; one that threatens our First Amendment right to free speech.
“âÂ?¦.Tossing the book out for all students – including gay and lesbian students already marginalized by the political climate in America today, students three times more likely to commit suicide because they feel discounted and unseen – is far more dangerous than the Internet.”
Later, Milner Halls concludes, “Freedom matters. So does a student’s right to read. I hope Banks will consider both.”
The following day, Seattle Times’ editorial writer, Jerry Large decided, “Kids need protection, but they also need opportunities for conversations about the dangers they face. There has to be a line, but Banks drew it too low this time.”
We’d love to be a fly on the wall of the University Place School District’s December meeting.”
