A Louisiana woman who lobbied her state library board to remove a documentary about a gay escort has failed miserably.
KATC News reports that Kathy LaFleur of Lafayette, Louisiana appealed to a committee of two librarians and a Library Board of Control member to have the film Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood banned from the Lousiana Public Library system.
LaFleur gave an impassioned speech before the committee on Wednesday night, labeling the film “appalling” and “trash.”
“I was appalled that y’all would actually have something like that in the library,” she said.
Related: Scotty Bowers, noted queer Hollywood madam, dies at 96
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood details the life of Scotty Bowers, a bisexual former marine and escort to the stars who worked from the Golden Age of Hollywood all the way up to his death in 2019.
The documentary, directed by Matt Tyrnauer, features extensive interviews with Bowers recalling his experiences having sex with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Laurence Olivier, Vincent Price, Carey Grant, and Rock Hudson. The film earned positive notices upon release in 2017, and was nominated for a Queerties Award.
Apparently, Kathy LaFleur didn’t enjoy it as much as we did.
“When you’re reading vulgarity in books, that’s fine,” said LaFleur. “But when you’re watching something and you’re seeing a clip of an actual video of this going on in a movie at a library, I just couldn’t get over that.”
Related: Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers reveals shockingly homoerotic pics from his homoerotic past
LaFleur also insisted that she’s not homophobic because she has a gay daughter.
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, as the committee declined to take a vote on the proposal. Others in attendance in the meeting applauded the move.
“I’m very thankful for the lack of motion today and the preservation of the documentary because I agree with everyone that spoke this far that access to knowledge is important,” said local resident Madison Price. “That’s the entire point of the library.”
We happen to agree. Have a look at LeFleur’s rant below.
While you’re here, check out the trailer for Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood.
Note: an early version of this story incorrectly stated that the incident occurred in Lafayette, Indiana. It actually occurred in Lafayette, Louisiana.
johncp56
You go, Scotty !! good work
whereshouldistart
Poor thing must have gotten the VAPORS after watching it.
johncp56
OMG I watched the trailer , that women is a child this is a mild doc of facts of the times, i can wait to watch the whole movie
whereshouldistart
Johncp56…you and me both kiddo!
Mr. Stadnick
Did this happen in Louisiana or Indiana? It states both in the article.
Jaquelope
That was confusing to me, too, but I guess this was in Indiana. I think that Mr. Reddish needs to start proofreading his articles before they are published, or to have an editor look over it before publishing.
d3clark
I clicked on the KATC link. It’s a newspaper in Louisiana. The area is known as Arcadiana so that may be where the confusion came from.
DennisBTR
Another example of poor proof reading by Queerty. The story is out of Lafayette, Louisiana. Lafayette is located in south central Louisiana and is the “heart” of cajun country. The Lafayette library some years ago came under fire for having drag queens reading books to children. Fortunately, that effort was pushed back as well.
gregg2010
The film was so offensive she had to watch the entire thing to be sure.
scotty
twice.
Capawok
and then kept hitting pause and rerun.
Had to watch the good parts again
winemaker
The old hag looks like she hadn’t gotten any in years so what’s the point? Really life can be sordid and some people do escorting for a living and if you don’t like it, that’s your prerogative and you don’t have to look at it or indulge in it.. As I recall there was some argument about art vs. pornography and the court ruled the difference and is basically up to the interpretation of the viewer.
eeebee333
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” ? Jo Godwin
Dick Gozinia
It’s a very interesting documentary. I’m surprised she didn’t enjoy it.
Doug
Maybe she couldn’t handle the idea that Katherine Hepburn was secretly a lesbian.
Goosecurls
I’m going to make a safe assumption that the disc came with a case with a description of the film. Which begs the question, “Did she read it?”, or “Why didn’t she read it?” From one I found, the word “gay” appears several times. Also, the description makes it clear that Scotty served both male and female clients. Clearly gay.
We’ll probably next see her on the news suing a zoo for injuries, after purposely walking into the gorilla exhibit, and getting hurt in the process. Her defense will be somewhere along the lines of “How was I supposed to know!”
whereshouldistart
Something tells me she, or a member of her family, might be the reason there’s a DO NOT DRINK label on bottles of bleach.
Just a hunch.
The Accidental Polemicist
Granted, alleging that Charles Laughton is a scat queen is too much for many folks.
Essie
It is a GREAT documentary. I really enjoyed it. Also, Scotty’s autobiography is also well worth reading. I read it on my Kindle but I hope that library has his book. The man is straight forward and honest to a fault. He leaves nothing under the table, or the bed.
Dick Mayhem
Is this movie the work of SATAN?
whereshouldistart
Am I the only one who read that in Dana Carvey’s voice?
Harvey Pooka
@whereshouldistart
Nope!
GrizzleyMichael
Keep the books and ban the people who have nothing to do but bitch about NOTHING
Mike Hunt
Oh dear, oh my. Kathy/Karen sweetie, bless her little heart, needs to focus way more on fashion (that jacket just looks … whipped) and hairstyle, both of which she has no conceptualization, and worry less about (a very informative) innocuous documentary.
Imagine if you had that sow as your next door neighbor.
Paulie P
so she can read about it but not watch it.. got it. gosh i wonder if she watched the series that was loosely based on it from Ryan Murphy…
Polaro
I liked the movie. You know what I do when I decide I don’t like something I’m watching? I stop watching it.
Chrisk
I wonder when was the last time she saw her daughter. I can’t imagine my embarrassment of having a loony and disheveled looking mom like that.
TJames197503
This Karen is triggered! Because of her I downloaded the book last night! ?
Brian
Queerty chose to focus on the gossip and missed the heart of the story.
“The committee considering the ban consisted of two librarians and one politically appointed board member.
Recently, the board voted to change how these bans are considered. Any future requests will considered by two political appointees and one librarian.”
Like Florida firing its data scientist during the pre-vaccine coronavirus times. We are rejecting experts.
StopSayingDumbShite
Indeed- The committee switch-up is the real issue here. Not at all surprising, given the location, but disappointing nevertheless.
Jaquelope
Since when do you “rent” something from a library? Renting strongly implies/means that there is a financial transaction having taken place, but you *borrow* these things from libraries, not rent them. Libraries are supposed to be free.
seaguy
Karen just needs to get a life! If you don’t agree with a movie or books subject matter then you don’t check it out from the library.