Yesterday we told you about a book called “This Book Is Gay.” It is on the shelves in at least a few public high school libraries in Iowa, as well as many public libraries in the state. It’s also causing big-time controversy at a Florida middle school. Today we’re continuing our coverage on the contents of the book.
We left off where the book begins talking about homophobia and transphobia. It tells kids people aren’t born homophobic or transphobic, so it must come from external sources.
“Sadly, there are small-minded bigots everywhere,” the book states.
And for those who say it’s a free country and they can what they like, the book says “well, actually, inciting hatred is a criminal offense so, no, you can’t.”
Here are the reasons people are “homophobes,” according to the book:
*Some homophobes hate gay people because they think it’s a part of their faith.
*Some homophobes think it’s dirty or disgusting.
*Some homophobes think that gay people will crawl down their chimneys and somehow convert them.
Homophobes are “irrational, stubborn, ill-informed and ignorant.”
Chapter 6 involves responding to religious arguments against homosexuality and transgenderism. Homophobia is a cultural thing, the book states. And again, on page 107, kids are told they didn’t choose to be gay or bi or trans — just like they didn’t choose where they were born.
Here is what the book states about religious texts, such as the Bible:
“Although most religious people are somewhat progressive, there are individuals and regimes that insist on clinging to multi-thousand-year-old bits of paper in the name of hate…Most people of religion see their sacred texts as a general guide for life — moral guidance, as it were. The problem comes when a minority take the written words literally — and the meaning of some of these words may even have been misinterpreted.”
The book gives a “hurrah” to Hinduism and Buddhism. Christianity gets mixed reviews.
There is the Catholic church, the book states, which calls homosexuality a sin. The Methodist Church is “pretty cool comparatively.” The Anglican church is “progressive but resistant.” Quakers are “mad cool.” Baptists, on the the other hand, have a “huge problem with the gays.”
The book includes passages from Genesis and Jude. And it deals with Leviticus, calling it “way harsh.” There is a section called “how to argue with Christians,” but more specifically “literalistic, homophobic Christians.”
“Personally, I think Jesus, had he lived today, would be at every Pride march,” the kids are told.
Strangely, after attempting to discredit the Bible, the author pivots to creatively suggesting there’s some “fairly convincing evidence of gay love in the Bible.”
Then it offers suggestions on how to argue with Muslims.
The book begins to take a more obscene turn from there. There’s a chapter on coming out and a graph of how to come out and how not to come out.
Don’t, for example, leave your internet browser full of “films of a certain persuasion.” Many people are outed that way, the book states. Then, teens are told:
“Don’t be dramatic. Your sister’s wedding is NOT the best time to leap into the aisle, block the bride’s path and scream: ‘I LOVE COCK.'”
It mocks concern for kids in a section called “Won’t someone think of the children!”
“Some people have their panties in a right old bunch about it because apparently, us powerful trans media types are brainwashing your people into having ‘sex changes.’ All together now: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL times infinity.”
The book states that is no such thing as “sex changes for kids.”
Thus far, we’ve details the first seven chapters of the book. Things will get a bit darker in tomorrow’s story. It will likely be the final installment on the contents of the book. You may be fine with what you’ve heard about so far, but you’ll likely be bothered by what is next.
Read part one below:
