Annie on My Mind: Let Love Win!
It all started with a simple gift.
In the fall of 1993, Project 21, a national lesbigay group, donated two gay and lesbian themed books to forty-two high schools in the Kansas City area. The books were All-American Boys by Frank Mosca and Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. Both dealt with gay and lesbian teenagers discovering their sexuality and learning to survive homophobia. Neither contained explicit sex scenes.
A few parents objected to these books being made available to high school students, even though the books were not required reading. In Kansas City, Missouri, a handful of protesters burned a copy of Annie on My Mind.
As a result, several of the affected school districts chose to refuse the gift. This was disappointing and narrow-minded, but not illegal.
The Olathe School District, in Kansas, went even further. Not only did it refuse to accept any new copies of Annie on My Mind, it removed a copy of the book that had been peacefully on the school library shelves for several years.
A book review panel examined the issue and suggested that the book be allowed to remain on the shelves. The superintendent refused to lift the ban.
In December of 1993, the American Civil Liberties Union became involved, joining several local families and one Olathe teacher in filing suit against the school district for illegally removing the book.
The case went to trial in September of 1995. One Olathe school board member testified that he thought homosexuality was a mental disorder like schizophrenia. Others quoted the Bible on the stand. Aside from disagreement with the portrayal of lesbians as sympathetic characters, no one could offer a good reason for removing the book from the library.
In November of 1995, Justice Thomas Van Bebber of the U. S. District Court ruled that while a school district is not obligated to purchase any book or books, it cannot remove a book from library shelves unless that book is deemed educationally unsuitable. Van Bebber ruled that Annie on My Mind was not educationally unsuitable, and that its removal constituted "viewpoint discrimination."
On December 29, 1999, the school district announced it would not appeal the court's decision. Annie on My Mind was restored to library shelves. Nevertheless, the school district spent over $160,000 in its effort to suppress a book with a likeable gay character. You can't tell me there was no better purpose for this money.
Latest Articles