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Connecticut State Senators Bob Duff and Ceci Maher held a briefing with friendly media in Hartford today regarding their proposed bill to keep pornographic books in libraries and to give librarians and other staff members who provide such books to children the ability to sue over emotional distress if they feel harassed by parents.
Duff described the bill as "a very important piece of legislation."
"Reading is a gateway to the world. Books open doors to other perspectives, different cultures and new experiences," said Duff before sharing comments about "banned books" like Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", George Orwell's dystopian classic "1984", Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird", Maya Angelou's "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings."
"And yet each of these books has been banned at some point in time in some area of the United States," says Duff. "Because of this it is of the utmost importance that all perspectives, beliefs and ideas be accessible through books," including issues related to "race, gender identity and sexuality."
"Proponents of banning books use the excuse of protecting children from lewd material," explains Duff with a straight face. "But this is a cover to ban freedom of thought, endangering tolerance and weakening democracy."
Just to be clear, the books Duff specifically mentioned ARE NOT the books parents are concerned about.
The books that parents cite teach children how to perform graphic sex acts with step-by-step instructions, tell them to go online to explore "kinks" and pornography, and much, much more.
Duff says, "there's been a campaign of misinformation and hysteria" about his bill to keep objectively pornographic materials in the children's section of libraries.
Apparently, Duff has received numerous messages at his office from people angry about the proposed bill, calling him a "sick piece of shit" for wanting to teach children about pornography, wishing harm would come to him, and even issuing death threats.
Nonetheless, Duff is adamant that his bill will "protect the intellectual freedom of students" and "recognize the professionalism" of librarians.
He promised that the bill doesn't allow libraries to carry pornography or prevent parents from monitoring what their children read.
He also said the bill would allow libraries to remove books from the shelves if they follow a "proper procedure" but in our experience, following the "proper procedure" to challenge a book rarely, if ever results in a book being removed from the shelves.
Duff argued, "Hatred and intolerance will only sow division and ignorance. We cannot and will not allow that."
He's accusing parents who oppose pornographic library books of "hatred and intolerance"?
State Sen. Ceci Maher said people also called into her office to ask why she was allowing pornography for children, but she denied the bill would do this.
"What we are doing is allowing librarians, who are trained professionals to make decisions about the books to have in their libraries and also to have reconsideration plans for books in their libraries," explained Maher.
"What we're working on is preventing libraries from having to take books off their shelves because there is a groundswell of voices that may not understand that, despite the changes in DEI... coming down from the federal government," said Maher. "We do know that there are diverse views, diverse ways of looking at the world, diverse ways of being in the world and every child, every adult needs to the opportunity to see themselves in books."
Apparently these "diverse views" include teaching children that it's okay for a young child to give a blow job to an adult woman wearing a strap-on dildo who thinks she is a man.
Maher wants to prevent books from being removed "solely because a person finds the book offensive."
"I feel very strongly that librarians and libraries are the front lines. They are the center of our communities, and we need to protect them," said Maher.
By the way, Maher's daughter, Katherine, happens to be the President and CEO for NPR, which has taken the progressive side on the book issue.
Next to take the mic was Ellen Paul who is from the Connecticut Library Consortium, a "state-mandated" non-profit organization that is partially funded by the Cooperating Library Service Unit line item in the State Library budget
"I am here today because, just like across the nation, Connecticut has seen an exponential increase in the number of book challenges in our public and school libraries," said Paul.
"A book challenge is not simply a point of view. It is an objection to the inclusion of that title in a library. It is an attempt to remove a book from a library or restrict its location, effectively censoring access to that book's words and ideas to an entire community," claimed Paul, even though the assertion is false since these books can be easily purchased in bookstores or online.
Paul was disgusted that there were over 100 book challenges in Connecticut in 2023, and cited examples of challenges in Guilford, Colchester, Old Lyme, Suffield, Brookfield, and Goshen.
"In each of these cases, the Library Board or the Board of Education followed the prescribed policies that were approved by the local governing body and those books were retained," explained Paul. "These book challenges are the ones that we know about because the were loud and provocative and widely reported in the news."
"Most of the objections cite children or young adult books with words or ideas or themes that make some people feel uncomfortable," said Paul before arguing that, "it is never the librarian's job to dictate what people read, only to ensure equitable access to information for all."
Paul views the library as a place of power.
"And where there is power, there is always a struggle for control," she says, happy to promote the "freedom to read and to turn towards democracy and away from censorship."
State Rep. Lucy Dathan also spoke, emphasizing the importance of trusting "our well-trained librarians."
It's worth nothing that most libraries and librarians in the state belong to a progressive, DEI-obsessed organization called the American Library Association ("ALA") that offers, among other things, training for librarians. Paul's organization, the CT Library Consortium, further recommends ALA's state chapter, the Connecticut Library Association, for advocacy matters.
ALA's 2024-2025 President, Emily Drabinsky, is a self-proclaimed Marxist who viewed the library as a recruiting grounds for budding left-wing activists. Her organization uses a loophole in the Library Bill of Rights to justify putting sexually-explicit content in front of children under the guise of “free speech” without any concern for developmental appropriateness.
The ALA's stance on such books is consistent with several goals of communism, including “eliminating all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press."
No wonder this state has the nickname "Commie-necticut."
