Is it just me or is this issue heating up?
I have some strong opinions about the roles of homosexuals in children’s books. I’ve kept those opinions to myself because to discuss something that people feel passionately about, something that so deeply affects their lives, takes a lot of time.
It’s no good to shout out, “Gays are going to hell.” Or, “Homophobic bigots should all die.” That kind of thoughtless bludgeoning, coming from both sides, is a waste of everyone’s time. We need to stop with the slogans hurled from behind the protection of nameless, faceless, internet personae. They only serve to inflame others and make matters worse.
So…since I’m convinced that the people hurling the hate-speech on both sides of the issue need to be urged to stop spewing and to instead do the hard work of thinking through issues and discussing them calmly, I guess I should take the time to discuss the issue of homosexuality in children’s literature. It’s worth discussing. It’s a polarizing issue. The two sides should search for some understanding of one another and some compassion.
I’ll start with what has gotten me thinking along these lines.
Recently on a children’s writing email loop we were urged to wear purple in honor of the homosexuals who had killed themselves after being bullied. I kept hearing that we should honor young people who had committed suicide.
This was still on my mind when I made a trip to a local bookstore. Browsing in the YA section I came across The God Box, by Alex Sanchez. I decided I needed to read it to try to understand where the kids in our youth group at church were getting some of their ideas about what God thought of homosexuality.
A week or so later, Noël, a children’s librarian/blogger I have followed and enjoyed for years posted about her disappointment with an author purposely putting a two-mother family into one of her books because she liked to think “that children’s books are a wonderful way to begin the process of educating people about how varied human experience is, and about how all of it, all of it, is normal.” Noël said she thinks that by painting homosexual couples as normal, the author was showing “elementary-age readers that Christian beliefs are hateful and silly.”
And then several days ago, the ALA announced their new Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, which will be given to English-language works for children and teens of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered experience. The comments on Yahoo’s article about the award are unhelpful. At least the hundred I read before giving up were nothing but garbage.
I have some things to say about all of this. I have reactions to each of the above items. I hope to talk about those reactions pretty soon. For now, I urge you to go and read some of these things and think about them yourselves. Think about whether homosexual characters in children’s books are good, bad, or neutral. Or are they sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes neutral? Is it possible for any character in a book to be neutral? Or do all characters move the reader toward being a better person or a worse person? I think this is not only fascinating to think about, but also I think it’s something that all readers and writers need to think about. How do we writers want to move our readers? How is the author of the book I’m reading trying to move me?
Other posts on this topic:
- Honoring Suicide Victims
- Choosing and Changing
- The God Box: Part One
- Writing About Characters Who Don’t Share Your Beliefs
- How Should We Then Respond?
This seems a rather common trick by authors who don’t necessarily base what they’re writing on the goal of telling a good story, but upon spreading propaganda. Mind you, I don’t mind some propaganda — most people spread it, after all! — but not when it is at the expense of the truth.
To be sure, Christians aren’t free from this trap. For example, I could write a novel (or, ahem, the screenplay for a Christian movie) that shows a character whose life is in shambles, his family falling apart, his career going the wrong way, his entire existence without purpose or meaning. Then he goes to church. He listens to an altar call and invites Jesus into his heart. Suddenly things start getting better! His wife loves him more, and he loves her. A sense of purpose fills almost every minute. He is a better dad to his kids. He gets that Big Promotion.
True for some people, even new converts? Perhaps, rarely. But hardly typical — and certainly deceptive to act as though it is typical.
The same is true for children’s fiction by secular authors who are trying to push their pro-homosexual-practice agendas. If I were one, I could write a story in which two homosexual “dads” or “moms,” raising children, are just as effective in these roles as a husband and wife. But that simply does not occur as frequently as activists would like to think.
Lest this seem unfair to those practicing one particular sin (and any sin, “straight” or “gay,” can be forgiven by God!) the same is true for many Single Moms. Some cannot help their situation, given their husbands’ abandonment or death. But nowadays, many single moms are that way by choice, thinking they don’t need a man to help them do everything a mom should do while *also* being enslaved to the (often male-imposed) expectation that they also should work full-time.
Such practices bring so many social problems, yet I as a fiction writer could simply wave my pen and imagine a world in which that simply does not happen. It’s deceptive and unloving. Even a pro-homosexual writer should be more honest in portraying people. If “straight” people can have such issues remaining committed to one person in marriage for life, how come we’re all often expected to pretend that becomes a complete non-issue if we’re talking about homosexual relationships?
E. Stephen Burnett´s last [type] ..Kirk Outerbridge- on writing cyber-thrillers and winning awards
Thanks for commenting, Stephen. Just to keep things clear, no one is saying that Laurel Snyder isn’t telling great stories. Noël, herself highly praises Laurel’s stories. Yes, Noël picked up from Ms. Snyder’s website that she purposely put in the two mom’s to educate children and Noël believed that teaching children that gay couples are normal, means teaching children that Christians are hateful. But I don’t think Noël was saying that Ms. Snyder sacrificed story for the sake of her agenda. I’ve not read her yet, but my understanding is that Laurel Snyder is a wonderful–as in hugely talented–story-teller.
Alex Sanchez did sacrifice story for the sake of his agenda, I think. Even so, I liked his characters very much. It’s odd really, because I disagree completely with his creative interpretations of scriptures and that would normally drive me up a wall–I hated The Shack, for instance, because the author’s anti-church, anti-Bible stance bothered me so much–but Mr. Sanchez made me care about his gay characters. I didn’t dislike the boy who was giving his interpretations of scripture at all. I liked him very much.
So no one is saying that these writers are not talented and worth reading.
I find it interesting that you point out that single-mother homes are not ideal. I had a neighbor who was a school teacher. She was not a Christian–she was a staunch atheist. But she used to always say how glad she was that I was homeschooling my children. She said she saw a softness and a willing obedience in my son that was lacking in the boys she taught (who were the same age as my son). She said she wasn’t able to teach much in her classroom. Most of her time was spent disciplining children. She said half the class was made up of boys from single-mother homes and by the time they reached her third grade classroom they were hardened and constant discipline problems. No wonder so many boys in public schools are drugged today. Oh, but that’s another soap box for another day.
I have to admit, I’m a bit shocked at the ALA.
I mean, do they also have an award for works for children and teens of exceptional merit relating to characters going green? Or survivors of abuse? 
Why have they suddenly stepped onto the stage on one side of a controversial cultural issue? I’m disappointed in them.
Becky
Rebecca LuElla Miller´s last [type] ..Fantasy Friday – Christmas Recommendations
hmm. That’s a very interesting comment, Becky. Clearly we can’t have awards for every group that feels it’s not represented in children’s literature. There would be no end.
I think the ALA sees this award as no different from the Coretta Scott King Award, which encourages the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and the graphic arts, including biographical, historical and social history treatments by African American authors and illustrators.
Should the ALA stop giving awards based on race, and sexual orientation/practice, altogether, do you think? Or should they add awards for religious groups, and other minority races and sexual orientations?
I think the ALA likes to step up to promote books for any group they believe is underrepresented.
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