School Shelves Pro-Homosexual Children's Book; Now Restricted to Adults
by Jim Brown
April 1, 2004
(AgapePress) - A controversial book about two princes getting married is no longer accessible to students at one North Carolina elementary school.
A committee at Rachel Freeman Elementary School in Wilmington recently voted to restrict the book King & King (Tricycle Press, 2002) to adults. The move follows complaints from parents who objected to the book's celebration of homosexual marriage. Tonya Hartsell and her husband Michael filed a grievance after their first-grade daughter Olivia brought the book home from the school library. (See Earlier Story)
When the controversy started in March, the school librarian explained the illustrated book had been on the school's shelves since early last year. The school principal, who views the matter as an issue of diversity, simply said what is "inappropriate" to one family may be "totally acceptable" to another. And while two members of the school board were sympathetic with the Hartsell's concerns, another member -- a leading member of Wilmington's homosexual community -- defended the school's continued circulation of the book.
Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina even got into the act, requesting by letter that North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Ward remove the book from schools' shelves around the state. "Either the State Board of Education has inadequate policies surrounding the selection and procurement of library books, or it is inadequately enforcing whatever rules it does have," Jones said.
Hartsell now says that while she is happy with the committee's decision, she would have preferred that the book be taken off the shelf completely.
"I would like ... whenever they get books in [for them] to really go through it, not just let a computer judge it's ratings," the North Carolina mom says. "And if there is [sic] other books out there [like King & King], I would like for them to review them and put them off the shelf. I would like for them to review all the books that are on the shelf."
Hartsell says because of the ordeal, Olivia will no longer be attending Freeman Elementary. "My husband and I are trying to get her in another school. The Christian academy -- we can't afford that -- so we're going elsewhere," she says. "I think some lottery school that's just right around the corner from where we live."
The book tells the story of a character named Prince Bertie who spurns a number of eligible princesses then falls for a character named Prince Lee. The book ends with them marrying and sharing a kiss. The authors of King and King have already spawned a sequel, King and King and Family.
Bob Knight with the Culture and Family Institute warns parents that homosexual activists, who embed books like King & King in school libraries, are serious about "taking over schools and indoctrinating children" so they believe homosexuality is normal and healthy. He also says any publisher that puts out a children's book promoting homosexuality is pursuing a political agenda.
Like the Hartsells have done, Knight says parents must get involved in determining the content to which their children are exposed because nobody has the best interests of their children at heart like they do.
