PFOX Issues Bogus Press Release; Calls Library Selection Process "Censorship"

The Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) organization, a group seemingly committed to the "conversion" of gays that the APA recently declared ineffective and harmful, has issued a press release criticizing the West Bend library for "ignoring" their requests "that the Library balance some of its homosexual material for children with material written by ex-gays or with a heterosexual slant."

First off, I have no idea what a book with a "heterosexual slant" means, but likely ALL THE OTHER BOOKS that don't address GLTBQ issues fit this bill.

Secondly, the library HAS included some reparative-therapy titles as suggested by Ginny Maziarka, as noted here. I recently searched the West Bend library for the over 1 dozen books Maziarka suggested the library acquire (provided within this PDF....which I'll post about soon, and relisted by Ginny here), and found these titles now shelved at the library:

• 101 Frequently Asked Questions About Homosexuality by Mike Haley
• The Heart of Female Same-Sex Attraction by Janelle Hallman

Other titles might be in the process of being acquired. However, when I searched for these 12 titles on other local library systems (similar to this analysis of Ginny's problem texts), I discovered that of the 14 books Ginny (and presumably, PFOX) wants shelved, only 2 other area libraries held any of the books in question:

• Racine Public Library holds Restoring Sexual Identity and Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth
• Waukesha Public Library holds My Genes Made Me Do It and Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth

That's it -- two libraries. So West Bend seems to be following local standards regarding the acquisition of these types of texts; hardly ignoring PFOX or Ginny Maziarka.

This speaks to PFOX's other allegation: that the West Bend library is engaging in censorship by not shelving more "ex-gay" texts. The fact of the matter is, that almost NO libraries in southeast Wisconsin carry ANY of the books suggested. That's not censorship, but likely the professional and educated analysis of what books are suitable to be shelved in the library. If the books requested were positively reviewed by reputable publications or organizations, you'd think more libraries would carry them. Yet, they do not.

That's not censorship; it is called responsible and professional librarianship.

//Update: This press release is being covered all over the place, unfortunately. Luckily, others agree as to its idiocy. One great analysis is here.