老澳门开奖结果

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SALT LAKE CITY 鈥� Davis School District has returned a children鈥檚 book about a family with same-sex parents to its library shelves following a lawsuit filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Utah on behalf of a mother with children in the district.

Parents may still use the library鈥檚 normal procedures to prevent their children from checking out particular books without removing those books altogether.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad the school understands they made a mistake when they took the book off the shelves,鈥� said Tina Weber, the mother who filed the challenge. 鈥淎 small group of people shouldn鈥檛 be able to impose their personal values on everyone else by taking away access to books they might disagree with. It鈥檚 not their job to decide what my kids can read 鈥� that鈥檚 my job as a parent.鈥�

In Our Mothers鈥� House, by acclaimed childrens鈥� author Patricia Polacco, was initially placed in the Easy Reading section of Windridge Elementary School in Davis County. After some parents complained the book 鈥渘ormalizes a lifestyle we don鈥檛 agree with,鈥� the school district instructed librarians to put the book behind a counter and to lend it only with written permission from a parent. This decision also applied to the three other school libraries with copies of the book.

When the school district restricted access to In Our Mothers鈥� House, it asserted that leaving the book on the shelves would violate Utah鈥檚 sex-education law, which prohibits instructional materials containing 鈥渁dvocacy of homosexuality.鈥� The lawsuit argued that library books are not covered under the statute and that including books in the library depicting families with same-sex parents does not constitute endorsement or "advocacy of homosexuality."

The 老澳门开奖结果 now hopes to reach an agreement with the school district to ensure that similar books are not improperly restricted.

鈥淭he library should be a place where students can be free to learn about the world around them,鈥� said John Mejia, legal director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Utah. 鈥淭hat can鈥檛 happen if a book is kept behind the desk, leading students to believe that there鈥檚 something wrong with it. We鈥檙e glad the school has removed that stigma. Now we just need to make sure that this does not happen again.鈥�

Polacco was inspired to write the book after attending a school assembly where a girl with same-sex parents was not allowed to read an essay about her family because a teacher said 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 come from a real family.鈥� The Davis School District does not censor any of Polacco鈥檚 other books, which focus on families of different backgrounds and cultures.

鈥淐hildren with same-sex parents shouldn鈥檛 be made to feel like their families are something to be hidden away,鈥� said Joshua Block, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. 鈥淒avis County schools include kids from all kinds of families, including ones like the family depicted in this book. We鈥檙e glad the district recognizes this book鈥檚 place is out on the shelves, not out of sight.鈥�

For a copy of the letter from the school district: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/letter-school-district-request-reconsideration-opinion

More information about this case, including the complaint, can be found at: