Noisy School Meeting Over Books on Gay Achievers

A group of protesters waving picket signs and screaming slogans gathered outside the Anaheim Union High School board meeting Thursday night, demanding that board members settle a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU has charged the district with censorship after administrators removed biographies of gays and lesbians from junior high school libraries.

Although board members discussed the lawsuit in closed session, in front of the public they only listened silently as protesters from both sides urged them to return the books at once or banish them forever.

Nor did they talk about the formal complaint filed against them by fellow board member Alexandria Coronado, who is opposed to returning the books to libraries.

In her claim, delivered March 1 to board members, Coronado charged that the board secretly voted 3 to 1 to settle the lawsuit last month, but then refused to tell the public. The claim states she cast the dissenting vote. If her colleagues don’t admit that they have settled and publicly apologize for keeping it secret, Coronado said she will sue them for violating the state’s open meeting laws.

The board’s lawyer recently denied that a settlement has been reached.

The books are part of a series titled “Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians.” Among those profiled are economist John Maynard Keynes and the Greek poet Sappho.

“They’re banning these biographies just because they are about famous lesbians and gays,” said Mira Ingram, a gay rights activist from Costa Mesa. Ingram told board members how a friend of hers committed suicide because he felt so isolated by his homosexuality. She added that the blood of other students “could be on your hands” if they don’t return the books to the shelves.

Some parents begged to differ.

“Everyone has a right to protest, but that doesn’t mean I think the books should go back on the shelves,” said Robin Bowman, a parent at Kennedy High School.

The ACLU filed suit in December on behalf of two students, complaining that the district acted illegally when it pulled 10 biographies of gays and lesbians from Orangeview Junior High School Library. It was the first time the ACLU of Southern California had filed suit against a school district over censorship, said Martha Matthews, staff attorney for the ACLU.

The books had never made it onto shelves in the first place. As librarians were unpacking the series, ordered over the summer along with others such as “American Women of Achievement,” a teacher saw them and complained, according to the lawsuit.

The principal took them home to read and then sent them to the district office for review. They have been there ever since.

Despite the librarians’ repeated requests, school officials refused to return the books, according to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court.

According to the lawsuit, district officials told the librarians that they had violated district policy by ordering the books, that the books’ reading level was too high for Orangeview students, and that the books presented a safety hazard because students who checked them out might be harassed by other students.

But the librarians said that was censorship. In early November, librarian Christine Enterline, assistant librarian Tom Kovac and a few angry parents contacted the ACLU.