From: Will Nich Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 12:37:07 EST Subject: Book Controversy Continues GAY BOOK CONTROVERSY CONTINUES from The Letter - Kentucky's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender newspaper Two local right wing groups in Louisville are urging their followers to protest inclusion of three gay African-American novels in a collection of 200 books being offered to students in Dee Hawkins' classroom at Central High School. The novels--"Invisible Life," "Just As I Am," and "This Too Shall Pass"--were written by E. Lynn Harris, a popular gay African-American. The books, which contain sexually explicit language, may be taken out by Hawkins' students as long as the parents submit written permission. The controversy erupted when one student took one of the books home without first receiving permission from her mother. "First they removed prayer and the Ten Commandments," wrote Frank Simon, Kentucky's leading anti-gay crusader, founder of Freedom's Heritage Forum and director of the American Family Association of Kentucky, in a newsletter mailed to his supporters in late December. "Now they want to teach homosexual pornography to 14 year old children!" He went on to note that "Homosexual acts are the leading cause of AIDS in America...It is also not surprising that we are having so many murders (Paducah and Louisville). The public schools are using our tax money to promote evil and discourage good." In the past, Simon has attempted to link homosexuality with violence: a favorite theme of his mentor, Dr. Paul Cameron. On November 12, a Jefferson County Public Schools committee voted 4-2 to allow the books back on the shelves at Central High. It forwarded the recommendation to Superintendent Stephen Daeschner, who will make his own recommendation and past it on to a Site-Based Decision Making Council at Central for final action. Simon is urging his followers to contact members of the Site-Based Decision Making Council and tell them to remove the books from Central High School permanently. To counter Simon's attacks, The Letter, a GLBT newspaper based in Louisville is urging members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and its supporters to contact the following people to urge them to KEEP the Harris books on the shelves in Dee Hawkins' classroom. Their contact information is as follows: Ed Jarbo 1842 Deerwood Avenue Louisville, KY 40205 Grant Wallace 4212 S. Brook Street Louisville, KY 40214 Velma Saylor 1006 Cherokee Road, #3 Louisville, KY 40204 Shelby Lanier (no address given) 502/966-4211 (home) Virgil Fitzpatric 927 S. 47th Street Louisville, KY 40211 Herald Fenderson Central High School Principal 1130 W. Chestnut St. Louisville, KY 40203 502/485-8226 (school)