Hey All,

Looks like the gays are just all over the AP today. The election may have signaled a slight change in the tide but we have a long way to go to reach out to people. I am just curious...what is people's objection to me? Is it that I am able to fall in love with someone of the same sex? Is that it? Is it that the bible is so falsely ingrained in this country that most of Americans can cherry pick their morality out of it - with premarital sex and other "sins" being the norm. Or is it truly the fear that gays and lesbians will taint the sanctity of marriage. Oh wait that's right...divorce is at an all time high in this country. Hmmm--what IS it then? Can anyone enlighten me?

The good news is that LGBT civil rights movement is gaining some momentum. The AOL poll shows 50% - 42% (8% restricting access to the book) of Americans think, "A Tango Makes Three," should be available to all students. Curious what the number would have been 10 years ago. And 51% - 49% of the poll would NOT read this book to their child. Bigotry is weakening.

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Gay Penguin Book Ruffles Feathers at School
By JIM SUHR, AP


SHILOH, Ill. (Nov. 17) - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children - and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.

Lilly Del Pinto thought the book looked charming when her 5-year-old daughter brought it home in September. Del Pinto said she was halfway through reading it to her daughter "when the zookeeper said the two penguins must be in love."

"That's when I ended the story," she said.

Del Pinto said her daughter's teacher told her she was unfamiliar with the book, and the school's librarian directed the mother to Filyaw.

"I wasn't armed with pitchforks or anything. I innocently was seeking answers," Del Pinto said, agreeing with Filyaw's belief that pulling the book from the shelves could constitute censorship.

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Purchase your copy of TANGO MAKES THREE here!
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The concerns are the latest involving "And Tango Makes Three," the illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own.

Complaining about the book's homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book - available to be checked out of the school's library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis - tackles topics their children aren't ready to handle.

Their request: Move the book to the library's regular shelves and restrict it to a section for mature issues, perhaps even requiring parental permission before a child can check it out.

For now, "And Tango Makes Three" will stay put, said school district Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw, though a panel she appointed suggested the book be moved and require parental permission to be checked out. The district's attorney said moving it might be construed as censorship.

Filyaw considers the book "adorable" and age appropriate, written for children ages 4 to 8.

"My feeling is that a library is to serve an entire population," she said. "It means you represent different families in a society - different religions, different beliefs."

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My other favorite sent to me by my friend Jon today. Students with dyslexia get more time to take tests in college. Can I get more gay time for my finals this year? This country is a joke with its social policies. Thank you Cynthia Smith. There will be a day that you are extremely embarrassed you issued this statement.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said ''homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder. A clarification has been issued.''

Pentagon guidelines that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder now put it among a list of conditions or ''circumstances'' that range from bed-wetting to fear of flying. ...

Among the conditions are stammering or stuttering, dyslexia, sleepwalking, motion sickness, obesity, insect venom allergies and homosexuality.

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How about the fear of a living under a government that refuses to look at a society as a whole with equal (not special) civil liberties for all its tax paying citizens? Can we list that one too Cynthia? Because it sure scares the shit out of me.

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It's up to us.