In May we learned about how Glenn Beck’s extremist group 9.12 Project had convinced the board of Rancocas Valley High School in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, to pull from its library the 2002 book Revolutionary Voices, an anthology aimed at queer youth. Now the entire country library is yanking the book from shelves. Because of child pornography concerns.
Turns out Gail Sweet, the director of the Burlington County Library System, in April requested the county’s Library Commissioners pull the book — which School Library Journal in 2001 named as one of the best books for high schoolers — after hearing complaints from 9.12, according to emails obtained through a FOIA request. Those emails were between Sweet and Beverly Marinelli, described as a “grandmother” and member of 9.12. No formal request for Voices‘ removal was ever filed.
School Library Journal details:
“As the copies that are checked out return, we will take them out of circulation,” explained Sweet in the email to Marinelli.
Then in a May 3 email, Sweet told staffers that they needed to “pull” Revolutionary Voices from library shelves. “How can we grab the books so they never, ever get back into ccirculation (sic),” Sweet wrote to BCLS staffers. “Copies need to totally disappear (as in not a good idea to send copies to the book sale).”
But when Andy Woodworth, a librarian at the Bordentown branch of BCLS, asked Sweet whether a formal challenge had been lodged, she said no. “It was recommended both by Marge and by me that the book be removed,” she wrote Woodworth in an email dated May 24, referring to assistant director, Margaret Delaney. “The commissioners supported our decision. There was no official challenge, no actual vote by the commissioners.” When Woodworth pressed to find out on what grounds the book was removed, Sweet responded on May 25 with two words: “Child pornography.”
She must be referring to what Voices author Amy Sonnie says is a photo of “one man bent at the waist with another man standing close behind him,” which is “a stock photo of one man hiking a football to the other.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Snaps to librarians for having creative imaginations?
EARLIER:
Glenn Beck’s Minions Who Got This Jersey High School to Ban a Book About LGBT Kids
[photo via]
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
This scumbag is most likely currently the most dangerous man in the United States. His minions latch onto his every word lemming like. This former washed up shock jock who was a dead beat heavily in debt washout until he decided to adopt the rightwing lunatic schtick and suddenly he has millions hangin on to his every word……..This is a lift from Salon:
Editor: Steve Kornacki
Updated: TodayTopic:
Glenn Beck
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2010 11:28 ET
Glenn Beck’s incendiary angst dangerously close to having a body count
The pundit’s crusade against the Tides Foundation is the latest in a line of tirades that have led to violence
By Eric Boehlert
AP/Mike Mergen
Glenn BeckThis story originally appeared on Media Matters.
On his Monday radio show, Glenn Beck highlighted claims that before he started targeting a little-known, left-leaning organization called the Tides Foundation on his Fox News TV show, “nobody knew” what the nonprofit was.
Indeed, for more than a year Beck has been portraying the progressive organization as a central player in a larger, nefarious cabal of Marxist/socialist/Nazi Obama-loving outlets determined to destroy democracy in America. Beck has routinely smeared the low-profile entity for being staffed by “thugs” and “bullies” and involved in “the nasty of the nastiest,” like indoctrinating schoolchildren and creating a “mass organization to seize power.”
As Media Matters reported, the conspiratorial host had mentioned (read: attacked) the little-known progressive organization nearly 30 times on his Fox program alone since it premiered in 2009, including several mentions in the last month. (Beck is the only TV talker who regularly references the foundation, according to our Nexis searches.)
So, yes, Beck has done all he can to scare the hell out of people about the Tides Foundation and “turn the light of day” onto an organization that actually facilitates nonprofit giving.
And guess what? Everybody in America would have found out about the Tides Foundation last week if Byron Williams had had his way. He’s the right-wing, government-hating, gun-toting nut who strapped on his body armor, stocked a pickup truck with guns and ammo, and set off up the California coast to San Francisco in order to start killing employees at the previously obscure Tides Foundation in hopes of sparking a political revolution.
Continue reading
Thankfully, the planned domestic terrorist attack never came to pass because California Highway Patrol officers pulled Williams over for drunk driving on his way to his killing spree. Williams quickly opened fire, wounding two officers during a lengthy shootout. Luckily, Williams wasn’t able to act out the ultimate goal of his dark anger — fueled by the TV news he watched — about how “Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items,” as his mother put it. Williams wasn’t able to open fire inside the offices of the Tides Foundation, an organization “nobody knew” about until Glenn Beck started targeting it.
The dangerous thing about this lunatic is that he urges his wackjob followers to act upon his tirades…………
Steve
If kids can’t read what they want, they won’t read. I applaud these book lovers for preventing kids from reading a book they might *gasp* enjoy.
concernedcitizen
I thought librarians would be smarter than listening to Glenn Beck, I guess ignorance isn’t solely reserved for the less educated.
Andy
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Hey Guys,
The only two groups I can recall who banned books are the nazis and communists. To which do you belong?
~AK
Queer Supremacist
@Andy: The Mormons, who are their spiritual heirs.
unclemike
I look forward to this library banning the bible for its tawdry descriptions of incest, adultery, and violence.
912 Man
First of all this group was not started by Glenn Beck. He is not involved in our group at all. Where did the word “extremism” come from? If you attended our meetings you would note that we are all concerned citizens. “Hiking a football”…yeah…that’s what they all do in the bars in New York City. Keep believing that and I have a bridge to sell you.
Steve
@912 Man: There’s a difference between being concerned and reencating Bradbury’s “Farenheit 451.”
Only LGBT kids are going to read this book because they’ll relate to the subject matter. Heterosexual kids won’t even know this book exists, and if they do, reading it won’t suddenly make them gay, so I seriously doubt that you’re concerned when there is nothing to be concerned about.
I can’t beleive you don’t see the stupidity in taking books away from children.
I also like that you’re on an online magazine targeted exclusively to the gay community.
damon459
@912 Man: He’s not involved really ? Did you check out the website for the org you belong to? He’s name is all over it he wrote “the plan” he wrote the mission statement his name is on the website if you google 9.12 project you get Glen Beck-The 912 Project. Come on be real be honest in your convictions why be part of something your not proud of lol.
Devon
@Steve:
@damon459:
People…Please…Don’t feed it. That encourages them to come back.
ewe
The library director should be fired.
Tired of Bigots
If any of you would like to contact Mrs. Beverly Marinelli to discuss her bigotry towards not only the LGBTQ community, but her bigotry towards all that are different from her in the name God. Don’t forget to Google her name where you will find her open discussions on the Burlington County 9-12 web page. You will find Bev, to be quite the treasonous unpatriotic senior citizen that makes up most of the 9-12 and Tea Party movements. Her contact info:
Home (609) 261-3346
Cell (609) 234-0855
Email [email protected] (Who is she kidding)
Remember she is in the Eastern Standard Time Zone or NY Time. She has made her opinions quite publicly known, and has down everything in her power to show hate in her heart. I think she deserves to hear some of the hate others have towards her and her bigotry. If she asks who is calling tell her, The Red Devil!
Jeffree
How many times does this need 2 be said: reading a book won’t turn a str8 person into a ghey one…… Books may be the only avenue for a y.o.u,n,g ghey person to realize that they are not alone, that theyre not the only one….
Go to any comingout group & just listen. The library saved our lgbt lives. Difficult as it may be 2 believe not every urban or rural po’ k.i.d. has internet access.
Pip
@912 Man: O diddily mee o mi! ur gonna sell me uh bridg r yah!? o well, rnt we thuh little folksiest olksiest fellah in town, arent we then!?? how about you just go fuck yourself, twat.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
~Jeffree………100% Co-sign my BCF, how insane the idea that simply by reading a book a kid will turn into a raging homothexual…… But then again it is quite difficult to reason with the unreasonable…….
Glenn Beck was nothing more than a washed up Howard Stern wanna-be. A failed FM shock jock whos show was cancelled due to abysmal ratings. He then adopted the “rightous rightwing outraged American” schtick and the lemming like lunatics have been flocking to him like flies to a pile of steaming shit ever since. His followers hang on his every word and he indirectly advocates violence towards those he now disagrees with. One of his listeners was on his way to take out a left wing org armed to the teeth. He was pulled over got into a shootout with the Police, two of which were shot by this lunatic.
This guy is truly dangerous…………
Jeffree
@Plays Well: thanks, BCF! I admit to not knowing much about Beck’s background, so thanks for that too. This whole idea of trying to ban.certain. books has all kinds of scary.precedents.
Are they going to next outlaw books on evolution or how the earth revolves the sun?
In case I ever forget, remind me not to raise my k.i.d.s in that part of New Jersey!
Be well, amigo,
j’frey
Dawson
@concernedcitizen: Sadly, in many states there are very few requirements for being a school librarian. You can go from serving drinks at a bar to being the school librarian in one interview.
Jeffree
@Dawson: You’re onto a great idea: if they served drinks at the school library, readership would soar 😀
Half off a Heinekin when you check out a Hemingway!
TommyOC
@Tired of Bigots: As much as I would love to support your recommended course of action, and as much as I’d love to not gain the ire of some fellow posters here, I do feel obligated to mention that what you’re suggesting we do is the EXACT thing that our opponents would like you to do.
Harassing anti-gay people at their homes is the very fear that NOM and Co. use when they want to shield their bigots from public disclosure laws. Your five minutes of hostile pleasure could put us ALL back by fifty years… think before you act!
Also keep in mind that this woman is a private citizen, so her personal details don’t fall into that fuzzy realm of public domain that similar information does when it concerns politicians and movie stars.
You harass this woman at home and you’re dancing very close to breaking the law. You provide the means for others to do that (or worse) and you could be found guilty of being an accessory. (Queerty, that last sentence is for you, too.)
Sorry to be the party pooper here.
aalan brickman
Female Librarians are the worst when it comes to gays….I saw One ask a gay boy to leave a library once just for asking for “Rainbow High”……disgusting!!!
aalan brickman
In Winnipeg of course!!…the new utard!!
Klien J.
@912 Man: You’re an idiot who is backward and obviously in rage over our countries constant moving forward, MILLIONS of gay teens, MILLIONS of gays and lesbians everywhere and there’s nothing you can do about the openness that is the gay community. Face it sucker, your side is loosing and it’s making you lose your minds. Pull a book from a shelf, it just makes the gay community that much more vibrant to be open, loud and proud and there’s not a thing you can do about it you fundie extremist wack job! We’re queer and here to stay baby.
Johnny America
Americans need to wake up the fact that Beck is simply another opinion pushing charlatan who is a product of mormon cult theology and he mixes this with his personal make up as a dry alcoholic. And for the record, he is a Mormon and not a Christian. As someone with a graduate degree in religion, I can say with all qualifications that Mormonism fits all parameters of a cult and has none of the parameters of a religion. A cult is any group (regardless of its size) that interprets the doctrines of a religion in an unorthodox fashion. Cults have come out of all major world religions and Christianity is no exception. The problem here is the fact the most Christians do not understand the difference between the two and they easily fall for the lies of Mormon missionaries or Jehovah’s Witness cultists when they come to one’s door.
Glenn Beck is a complete total idiot who has no honor, does not support America’s troops and would not know the first thing about restoring honor to the USA. On this idiots radio show and Fox Network program he consistent demonstrates all the unstable behaviors of a dry alcoholic which include grandiosity, judgmentalism, intolerance, impulsivity, ADD and indecisiveness. Alongside that reality, Glenn Beck does not possess a single ounce of journalistic integrity, has no college degree, has no qualifications and he is definitely not a true conservative. But then, what can anyone expect from someone who can’t find anything filthier than their own personal reflection. Since people like Beck cannot survive on the basis of any personal merits, they survive by putting others down with lies and half truths in order to feel good about themselves.
The truth about Beck is that he a dry mormon alcoholic who never got the counseling required for alcoholics. To further complicate things and confuse people, Beck flippantly throws around Christian terms like “God”, “Jesus”,”Holy Spirit” as well as voices of other so called “Spirit Powers” on his radio talk show. Beck is a mormon in active standing with the mormon church and is not a Christian. Mormonism teaches many gods, that the god of the earth was once a man who attained godhood status, there is no trinity, the cross of Christ means nothing and that Jesus Christ and Satan were brothers. They have some very twisted ideas that do not come from the Christian Bible or Christian doctrines and they are laughing all the way to the bank with each temple they build.
Because Beck does not possess a single ounce of journalistic integrity, he is the perfect abortion poster child for Fox Network. The people who love what Beck says are no different than the impressionable sheep who loved every speech made by Adolph Hitler in his early years when he brought Germany into an era of economic prosperity These same sheep also blindly followed Hitler into one of the darkest chapters of world history. Beck and the Fox Network both cater to the same lowest common denominator of demagoguery.
Someone should have asked Beck which of the many mormon gods he kept talking about during his argument with himself on Saturday on the square in DC. Like a typical dry alcoholic, Beck even lied on national television when he spoke about holding a document signed by George Washington. That event never took Place. Unfortunately, people who love being led around by the nose do not realize that Beck is talking about a different god than that of Christianity, Judaism or Islam. Beck has been a product of mormon cultism from the day he started doing a radio talk show as an opinion pusher. This idiot never even went to college, has no clue what is really in the US Constitution or what the founding fathers really believed and intended. You don’t have to have a degree in psychology to see that Beck exhibits all the signs of a dry alcoholic. The only reason this unstable impressionable idiot fell into mormonism was because the woman he wanted to have sex with would not do so unless they got first got married and joined a church. From that point, they joined the mormon cult where Beck’s unstable mind went even further out into left field through mixing Catholicism with mormonism. Glenn Beck is as big a charlatan as Joseph Smith or that 5th grade graduate (Charles T Russell) who started the Jehovah’s Witness cult.
This is Glenn Beck in a very accurate and concise nutshell. Considering the fact that Becks personal views are extreme Marxist Libertarian, his form of patriotism is false and he is a person who has no real substance or depth. It will not surprise many of us when Beck’s next big thing is to come out of the closet and announce his homosexuality to the nation. Simply put…he is just another predatory neocon who is pushing the buttons of very ignorant & impressionable people who love being told what to think and believe.
We live in a period of history where it has become very socially acceptable to be stupid and follow extremist idiots like Glenn Beck, Adolph Hitler, Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Christine O Donnell and Rush Limbaugh. Chicanery and lies are their middle names as these people have no ounce of integrity and are masters at perverting truth, facts and history. Even now…Beck is probably masturbating while watching Fox News video footage of Christine O Donnell & Sarah Palin while brainstorming over his next round of vile spew for his opinion pushing points on the radio or TV.