Gay Penguins Fight Back

by Michael Jones · 2009-10-02 06:14:00 UTC
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And Tango Makes Three

And Tango Makes Three, the book about two gay male penguins that raise an adopted little penguin, sends shivers down the spines of anti-LGBT people, many of whom race to their nearest library to request that the book be banned from the stacks. The book is the most banned book in the world, according to official library statistics, but this year the penguins aren't taking homophobic rage lying down. Instead, they're the focus of Banned Books Week, a celebration of reading materials that are targeted by extremely conservative forces in communities across the globe.

And that celebration has paid off, literally. Because of the renewed attention on And Tango Makes Three during Banned Books Week 2009, the book has shot up the Amazon.com charts, racing to the top of Amazon's "Movers and Shakers" list, which monitors books that see sudden surges in orders and demand.

And that has both gay rights supporters, as well as the book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, feeling pretty darn smug (and rightly so).

"The current boost in its popularity during Banned Books Week will only spread its positive message to more families," Simon & Schuster's Ingrid Selberg told the Guardian. ""And Tango Makes Three is a charming picture book about love and family. We are proud to have it on our list."

Even more touching? The authors of And Tango Makes Three just became fathers themselves this year, proving that life imitates art, at least just a little bit.

(Image courtesy of Simon & Schuster Children's Books.)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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