Victory: Scholastic Reverses Decision to Exclude Gay Friendly Book from Fairs
Hey everyone,
This is Mike Jones, Editor of the Gay Rights blog on Change.org, writing with great news.
Scholastic Books just responded to the petition you all signed on Change.org criticizing the company for excluding a book from their popular books fairs simply because one of the characters had two lesbian mothers. I’m happy to say that because of the collective strength of the 4,000 people who signed the petition, Scholastic has reversed their decision to exclude the book – Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle – and has released a statement affirming the dignity of gay and lesbian parents.
This is a great victory achieved in 48 hours, and it was only possible because of all of you who signed, advocated for, and spread the petition. Scholastic Books is one of the largest educational publishing outfits in the country, and this sends a clear message to children and parents everywhere that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with two men or two women raising a child.
While Scholastic Books hasn’t directly apologized for originally excluding Luv Ya Bunches, which they blocked in part because the author refused Scholastic’s request that she include a heterosexual couple in the story, their statement today ensures that Luv Ya Bunches and other books with same sex parents as characters will be available at future book fairs. Moreover, the company has taken steps to avoid this issue in the future by committing “to a review process that considers all books equally regardless of their inclusion of LGBT characters and same sex parents.”
Finally, the company publicly recognized that LGBT families and parents are a part of reality and shouldn’t be hidden from kids, saying that “Scholastic editors recognize Milla’s two moms as a positive and realistic aspect of the story.”
As Lauren Myracle herself said at the height of this controversy, “Over 200,000 kids in America are raised by same-sex parents… It’s not an issue to clean up or hide away.” That’s the message you all sent by signing this petition, and Scholastic Books heard you loud and clear.
Thanks for your support, and congratulations on yet another Change.org victory!
4 responses so far ↓
1 amber from medifast.com // Oct 29, 2009 at 10:18 am
That is just ridiculous! My daughter and step-daughter both have 2 moms and 2 dads. Kids today do not know what a traditional family is.
2 ANSH from Smooth Fitness coupons // Oct 31, 2009 at 4:21 am
Well i think they have rights to do whatever they want, so its OK, but they should have to think about the future. Can this relationship will remain in future and what about your family.
3 New Gay Adoption Bill Introduced // Nov 1, 2009 at 4:34 am
[...] placements and adoptions nationwide. According to reports, there are approximately 65,500 adopted children being raised by lesbian or gay parents. LGBT singles and couples are also raising an estimated three percent of children in the foster [...]
4 Getting Rid of the Gay in Education // Dec 11, 2009 at 4:34 am
[...] During last year’s campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages in California, the measure’s sponsors ran commercials featuring a Massachusetts couple who unsuccessfully sued their local district for the right to pull their child out of anti-bullying lessons that included references to gay households. [...]
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