Sarah Palin’s hometown is trying to ban a book for being too gay
A library in Sarah Palin’s Alaska hometown is facing pressure to remove the book ‘This Book is Gay’… because it’s too gay.
The popular book, written by trans author James Dawson, aims to be an ‘instruction manual’ for LGBTQ people coming to terms with their sexual and gender identity.
The book got an extremely positive reception from LGBT fans when it was released last year – but it’s going down rather less well in the town of Wasilla, Alaska.
The town – which boasts Tea Party politician Sarah Palin as its most famous resident and former Mayor – is currently facing calls to categorise the book as ‘adults only’ and place it in a restricted section.
One ‘concerned mother’ told the local newspaper that she believes the book isn’t ‘appropriate’ to be in the library’s juvenile nonfiction section.
Several residents and local activists attempted to raise the issue at a Wasilla city council meeting this week – despite it not being on the agenda.
Local resident Emily Hardy told councillors “it is straight-up paedophile kind of behaviour” to have an LGBT helpbook available outside of the adult section.
Vanessa Campbell, the mother who claims she had to stop her ten-year-old son from reading the book, has also complained to library director K.J. Martin-Albright – and has now taken the matter to a committee.
A meeting was held to look at the complaint this week – but bookshop owner David Cheezum says that a number of activists turned up uninvited at the meeting and attempted to “politicize” the issue.
He told Alaska Public Media: “When it became clear that that wasn’t the kind of meeting it was going to be, and they left, we had a really kind of inspiring discussion just because it was so open and honest, just the kind of discussion you would like to have when the politics was sort of taken away.
“I wish the people who were politicizing it would just kind of wait a little more patiently for the results to be made public.”
Dawson told the Bookseller: “Alaska is not New York. It’s not San Francisco or LA. It’s 2015 and LGBT people are still being compared to paedophiles. It’s such a shame.
“The people we have not heard from are the LGBT people in Alaska, and they are the ones who are being sent the message that they are shameful in some way.
“I’d like to publicly thank [librarian] Kathy for sticking to her guns.”
The author added: “This actually might be the best thing that could happen for the LGBT community in Alaska. With all this attention, they might hear about the book and pick up a copy. That could only be a good thing.”
Despite her extensive influence in the town, Palin hasn’t spoken out about the book.
