We understand that earlier this week Gerald Allen, the Alabama state legislator proposing to bury books with homosexual themes, was scheduled to visit the White House.To a writer for London’s Guardian newspaper, Rep. Allen bragged, “It’s my fifth meeting with Mr. Bush.”
That is hardly front-page news. President Bush has long been willing to play nice with the more extreme elements of his party. In 2000, candidate Bush paid a high-profile visit to Bob Jones University, infamous for banning interracial dating until relatively recently. It was Bob Jones III, the fundamentalist school’s current president, who advised Bush after the 2004 election, “Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing.”
Will that rightwing boiling spill over to include the same kind of law federally that Allen is proposing for Alabama? Allen’s bill would ban the state from spending funds on works that “recognize” or “promote” homosexuality.
It’s not likely that the White House will suggest something so misguided.
Where would librarians even start? According to Allen’s bill, they would have to police their shelves for materials that “sanction, recognize, foster, or promote a lifestyle or actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws of the state.”
Which brings us to a suggestion for Bush staffers squiring Rep. Allen around the White House during any future visits: Keep the Tuscaloosa Republican away from the first lady.
Laura Bush is a former librarian who has a soft spot for books and reading. “As a child, the Midland Public Library was my favorite place to go,” Mrs. Bush said in a speech earlier this year.
This self-described bookworm has been a strong advocate for reading ever since her days as first lady of Texas.
We suspect that the first lady, like most librarians, gets a little nervous when people start talking about removing books from shelves. To suggest, as Allen has, to bury the ones he deems offensive is enough to make any librarian downright surly.
In March, Mrs. Bush was the host for a symposium on American writers. One of the featured authors for discussion was Truman Capote.
Capote spent part of his childhood in Alabama, living in Monroeville near novelist Harper Lee. Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” with its gay themes, would certainly be a candidate for burial if Allen had his way.
We’re just sure Laura Bush, despite the wishes of her husband’s supporters, wouldn’t like this.
