Alabama public library system mistakenly flags children’s book as ‘sexually explicit’ because author’s last name is Gay

[GodLovesCats]

Alabama public library system mistakenly flags children’s book as ‘sexually explicit’ because author’s last name is Gay

Cindy Hewitt, the library’s executive director, told CNN the picture book was labeled as containing potentially explicit material after an automated keyword search turned up the word “gay” in the book’s title, author name or subject line.

What is so confusing about the word Gay being part of the author's name? It is obvious from the title this book is not about immoral sexuality.

Also, the First Amendment prevents libraries from banning books because everyone has the right to free press and they always get books before stores do.

It is sad at least one author will have to begin using a pseudonym (which Biblically is a lie) if she wants to continue writing books in Alabama.

 

[okay]

It is sad at least one author will have to begin using a pseudonym (which Biblically is a lie) if she wants to continue writing books in Alabama.

You are overstating things. The author will not need to write under a pseudonym to keep their books in libraries in Alabama.

Don’t get me wrong - the fact that an authors name would temporarily cause a book to be listed as sexually explicit is silly. And while I don’t want truly sexually explicit or graphically violent material easily available to children, I think that many of the book challenges that cost libraries a lot of money and time to respond to (and lead to some books being pulled from shelves) are misguided.

Thanks for pointing out how absurd things can get.