Book on Male Penguin Parents Removed from Children’s Section
Concerns about “homosexual undertones” in the children’s book And Tango Makes Three caused two public libraries to move it from the children’s to the non-fiction section. The book, about two male penguins who adopt an abandoned egg, is based on the true story of two penguins at the New York Central Park Zoo. Heaven forbid our children see images of a loving family.
I think the right has felt particularly sensitive about penguins ever since they claimed March of the Penguins as an example of “traditional family values.” I’m not sure what’s more upsetting to them about And Tango Makes Three: the idea that same-sex orientation might exist in nature, and is thus genetic, rather than a conscious choice, or the idea that a same-sex orientation might be more about who you spend your life with than about sex, per se.

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