Christians sue for right to burn gay teen novel

June 12, 12:44 PMPortland Humanist ExaminerMicha J. Stone

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A group of Wisconsin Christians filed a lawsuit seeking the right to burn a gay teen novel. The group claimed the novel is "explicitly vulgar, and anti-Christian". The novel in question is Francesca Lia Block's Baby Be-Bop, a young adult novel in which a boy, struggling with his homosexuality, is beaten up by a homophobic gang.

According to the American Library Association the complaint also demands $120,000 in compensatory damages. The complaint has been lodged by a group identified as the Christian Civil Liberties Union. Their suit claims that "the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library."

It seems the legal challenge follows a lengthy campaign by some West Bend residents to restrict access to teenage books they deemed sexually explicit from library shelves, which was eventually thrown out at the start of June.

Some things never change. Here we are in the 21st century and we are still plagued by book burning religious zealots. The whole episode is quite repugnant. Clearly the lawsuit is frivolous and will go no where. However, it does serve to hi light the hate and ignorance the Christian community harbors. The blatant homophobia and bigotry is nothing new for Christians. Indeed, it has been their modus operandi for centuries.