Settlement Ends ACLU Suit Over Gay Books

The American Civil Liberties Union announced Friday that it has settled a lawsuit with the Anaheim Union High School District over censorship of gay and lesbian books.

According to the agreement, 10 books from the series “Lives of Notable Gays and Lesbians,” which were taken out of the Orangeview Junior High School Library in the fall, will be placed in a library at one of the district campuses. Among those profiled were economist John Maynard Keynes, author Willa Cather and the Greek poet Sappho.

Because of concerns that the reading level may be too difficult for some junior high school students, the books may be placed in a high school library instead. If that happens, Orangeview’s librarian will be able to purchase another set of books dealing with gay and lesbian issues for her school’s library.

As part of the settlement, district officials promised that books will never be removed from school libraries merely because parents or teachers object to subject matter dealing with sexual orientation.

Administrators have also agreed to send out a letter to all schools encouraging librarians to include “materials discussing controversial ideas . . . representative of the student population in terms of religion, race, ethnicity, disability, gender and sexual orientation.”

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Orangeview librarian Chris Enterline, who approached the ACLU last fall after district officials took the books from her library, said she was happy with the settlement.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Enterline said. “I think schools and school libraries should be as inclusive as possible.”

Some parents used the public comment session to urge them to keep the books off shelves forever, while others urged them to return the books at once.

Announcement of the settlement took board members by surprise.

Though they approved it in closed session, board members did not formally report the settlement to the public at their meeting Thursday night.

Their silence prompted one trustee to publicly protest that her colleagues had violated the state’s open meeting laws.

Alexandria Coronado, who said she was the lone trustee to vote against the settlement, also has filed a formal complaint against her colleagues for failing to tell the public about an earlier closed session vote in which the board directed their attorney to proceed with a settlement.

Board President Kathy Smith on Friday explained that the agreement has yet to be ratified by a judge.