New Britain, Connecticut resident Daniel Healy ain’t happy with his local public library after the refused to accept a CD devoted to Matthew Shepard.
While Healy thinks their decision reeks of homophobia, library officials say they turned down Healy’s donation for the CD’s shortcomings: it’s only one track.
Fran Morales writes for New Britain Herald,
“I’ve been given various reasons, and the answer keeps changing,” Healy said. “It makes me uncomfortable … all to suggest to another reason for their refusal.”
The library says there’s no conspiracy.
“It’s far from the truth,” said Candice Brown, library director. “It’s not about the content. We have many items regarding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender).”
The CD was rejected because it contained only one song, Brown said, not a matter of censorship, but rather a feeling that a one-song CD isn’t that valuable or of much interest to library patrons.
The devoted disc features one musical number and some words from Judy Shepard, who has fought tirelessly for gay rights since her son’s 1998 murder.
Before people jump to any conclusions about New Britain’s library harboring homophobia, they did accept one of Healy’s lengthier aural offerings, a CD called Love Rocks, which features rockers such as Randi Driscoll rocking out for gay marriage. As for the Shepard single, library officials invited Healy to discuss the matter at their next board meeting. Of their invitation, Healy, who also donated the CD to other local libraries, says, “Between now and then I hope this will be resolved”.
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Healy needs to put on some whale sounds and take a chill pill. The library, meanwhile, should just take the CD and put it on their shelves. It sounds like Healy’s just looking for drama…
degan22
Totally.
rjrtist
They certainly have a one track mind.