The Longevity of Gay Penguins

Who would have thought that a book about gay penguins would have such staying power?  For the third straight year in a row, And Tango Makes Three, the book about two male penguins that become a couple and raise a baby penguin, has topped the list of most challenged library books.

According to the American Library Association, three books that deal with the subject of homosexuality made their way on to the 2008 list of most challenged books.  Joining Tango are The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, and Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen.

Of course, the last thing that books like Tango represent are controversy.  Rather, they highlight the diversity of families that exist.  As Tango's co-author Peter Parnell said about his inspiration for writing the book, "We felt that there was an opportunity in this story to talk about different kinds of families."

Family is what lies at the heart of books like Tango.  They are not about sex, or promoting a political agenda.  Rather, they're about the uniqueness that defines family.  The single biggest message that emanates from books like Tango is love, and the fact that social conservatives continually challenge this book says a whole lot more about their worldview than it does those that read the book.

How loveless must social conservatives be to find fault with a book about smitten penguins, for three years straight?

Justin Richardson, the other co-author of Tango, had this to say about his book: "As adults we think that to talk about gay families is to talk about gay sex. Therefore parents are squeamish. I can promise you that while an adult might think of a gay couple and think of them having sex, a second grader will not think that abstractly. They're just thinking that they're two people in love who happen to be same sex -- who aren't that different from Mom and Dad."

Here's an instance where I really wish adults would listen to the viewpoint of children.