Baby Be-Bop, a coming of age story about a young man who discovers he is gay, has been targeted by Wisconsin Christian group calling it vulgar, racial and anti-Christian, and wants the book burned.

Yes. Burned. More from Salon.com:

Now an outfit called the Christian Civil Liberties Union has gotten in on the act, suing the library for, according to the West Bend Daily News, “damaging” the “mental and emotional well-being” of several individuals by displaying “Baby Be-Bop” in the library. Since attempts to label the novel as “pornographic” have failed, the (somewhat shadowy) CCLU hopes to brand it as hate speech, in part because it contains the word “nigger.” The complainants, described as “elderly” by the newspaper, claim that Block’s novel is “explicitly vulgar, racial [sic] and anti-Christian.” They want the library’s copy not only removed but publicly burned. “Baby Be-Bop,” a title from the Weetzie Bat series that describes the youth of Weetzie’s best friend, Dirk, is, in Block’s [author] words, “a very sweet, simple, coming-of-age story about a young man’s discovery that he’s gay.” Dirk is beaten by gay bashers but steadfastly clings to the possibility of finding love. Block finds the disingenuous charges of racism particularly distressing. “Obviously I use those words, including ‘faggot,’ which is also in the book, to expose racism and homophobia, not promote it,” she said. “It’s a tiny little book,” she added, “but they want to burn it like a witch.”

No Dorothy, it’s not the 1930s. It’s the 21st century. At least outside of West Bend, Wisconsin.

In the video clip below, a West Bend man advocates burning Baby Be-Bop and similar book.:

Post by ILO on 06/18/09 at 12:24 am