Just got the following urgent message from Oklahomans for Equality, I’m passing it on here as a public service. Lets go, go, go – we only have a couple of hours to get e-mails in!
Oklahomans for Equality is monitoring a possible book banning issue developing in the Union Public School District of Tulsa County.
The book is “Buster’s Sugartime” by author Marc Brown which was on an episode of the “Postcards from Buster” series on PBS.
The school board will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Union Public Schools Education Service Center located at 8506 E. 61st St. The board will decide whether to remove the book or possibly limit access to it. This will not be a public forum where people can speak. No public comments will be allowed.
The Board of Education is addressing the situation after a parent brought their concerns to the district’s Materials Review Committee. The committee chose to keep the book on library shelves. The parent was opposed to the depiction of a child with two parents of the same gender. The parent has appealed the committee’s decision to the Union Public School Board.
Nancy McDonald president of PFLAG Tulsa says ” Our society embraces all kinds of families. Those “families” take on many different combinations such as, opposite sex, single parent, grandparents, same-sex and those families can be made up of different races, religions, cultures, ages, and sexual orientation. It is so important that young children have opportunities to see “their” families displayed in reading materials, movies, plays, print, and to know that the most important thing is that they are loved, cared for, and valued no matter what their family structure is.”
Please contact the Union Public School Board Secretary Beverly Thummel by emailing thummel.beverly@unionps.org. Your email will be shared with the Union School Board so be polite and respectful in your tone. If you are in the District 9 Independent Union School District please include that in your correspondence. Please refrain from calling the District’s office.
Below is a copy of the letter I e-mailed to the district:
Date: January 27, 2009
Time: 6:29 CST
To Whom It May Concern:
I just wanted to write you all and voice the outrage that I felt when I learned a few moments ago that your district was planning to ban “Buster’s Sugartime” by author Marc Brown from the school’s library, because one parent is upset about the fact that the book contains a situation where both parents are of the same sex. I’ll be very brief and to the point on this topic.
Under no circumstances should this book be banned. Having two same-sex parents is a fact of life for many children these days, including some in Tulsa. Most of these children experience loving, caring households and grow up to be leaders in our community. I wish the same could be said for those who grow up in households where parents are of opposite sexes.
If this parent continues to press this issue and feels that this matter is of such urgency to warrant making such a stink about it, perhaps that parent should withdraw their student(s) from Union Public Schools and enroll them in a private school where their children can be taught hatred, bigotry and mistrust for anyone not like them at their parent’s own expense instead of at mine.
I pay taxes in this state, some of which directly fund your school district. As I am sure you are aware, not all funding for school districts comes from within the district. Much of it comes from various state-wide taxes. As such, I feel entitled to comment on this issue. I object to this insane and ridiculous proposal. I look forward to hearing that your District has decided to preserve the decision of the Materials Committee and allow this book to remain on the shelves.
Here’s what i sent:
As a bisexual parent living in Oklahoma, I believe it is vitally important that children living in “nontraditional” families be able to see positive depictions of families like theirs in the media they have access to. This means books, television, movies, etc. Please do not ban this book. Public schools should present all types of families equally in order to offer an egalitarian environment for all students. Parents who want their children to only have access to materials that they deem appropriate should consider homeschooling or enrolling their children in a private school that conforms to their views.
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