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submitted 9 months ago by geosoco@kbin.social to c/news@lemmy.world

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bans took a racy turn Tuesday, as Republican senators and a witness read scenes of various sexual content into the congressional record to defend the banning of multiple titles from U.S. schools.

...

The hearing on book bans was called as multiple Republican-led states have made it easier for books to be challenged in classrooms and as school board meetings have been flooded with arguments on what is appropriate for children to read.

The American Library Association said the number of book challenges in the United States doubled between 2021 and 2022.

...

Republicans and Democrats found common ground in agreeing there are books that are inappropriate for some children, but Democrats said the argument that all the books under discussion are sexually explicit is a scapegoat for the issue.

“No one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in [the] children’s section of the library,” Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. “That’s a distraction from the real challenge. I understand and respect that parents may choose to limit what their children read, especially at younger ages. My wife and I did. Others do, too. But no parent should have the right to tell another parent’s child what they can and cannot read in school or at home. Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are.”

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[-] SquishyPandaDev@yiffit.net 85 points 9 months ago

Would you look at, the Bible is missing from their evidence of sexually explicit books read to children. All the prof you need that this has nothing to do with child safety

[-] dingus@lemmy.ml 62 points 9 months ago

They are suspiciously silent about violence and gore.

Apparently understanding procreation exists is more dangerous than a heaping helping of the ol' ultraviolence.

[-] Norgur@kbin.social 23 points 9 months ago

That's something us Europeans find weird all the time. Splatterfest 9000 Ultra Bloody Gore edition is fine, but God forbid there is a literal mm of female areola in screen for a fraction of a second!

[-] FrickAndMortar@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

I like the glib answer that the USA was founded by religious nut jobs so uptight and conservative that they got kicked out of Europe for being so annoying - the puritans.

[-] PickTheStick@ttrpg.network 3 points 9 months ago

What's amusing to me is that one of the stated reasons the religious nut jobs were persecuted was for their anti-war beliefs. Somehow that script got flipped.

[-] VerdantSporeSeasoning@lemmy.ca 3 points 9 months ago

Yeah... Nixon grew up as a Quaker, and Quakers were supposed to be super pacifistic. Just an example to your point.

[-] slurpeesoforion@startrek.website 3 points 9 months ago

Several times from several places.

[-] lettruthout@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

Yes, sadly there's more money to be made from violence. Politicians can rake in political donations from fear, get lobbyist support (bribery) from arms manufacturers and watch your stock portfolio swell from voting for gun ownership and war. How do we stop this madness?

[-] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The Walking Dead TV series didn't show much of the sexual assault/rape from the comic series but all the zombie gore was fine.

[-] dezmd@lemmy.world 57 points 9 months ago

Attention everyone: Your mom and your dad had the sex, thats how you even exist. Some of them had a lot of sex. Some even had sex with other people.

Censorship is required for effective brainwashing. Fuck autoritarians, not in the fun way.

[-] baronvonj@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

IVF. I can honestly tell my children that their mother and I were just holding hands when she got pregnant.

[-] billiam0202@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago
[-] baronvonj@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

Twins, we have a backup savior.

[-] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 1 points 9 months ago

Also a lot of them supposed "Christian" politicians regularly commit adultery.

[-] dumdum666@kbin.social 37 points 9 months ago

Why are these people so obsessed about sex and moreover want to control sex for other people? They should seek therapy.

[-] stephfinitely@artemis.camp 33 points 9 months ago

These people are wild. American first and freedom of speach, then something says something they don't like and its ban this, make this illegal.

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[-] geosoco@kbin.social 14 points 9 months ago

Wait until they find out about fan fiction. Hope they get hard reading it to each other on the house floor.

[-] svc@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 5 points 9 months ago

How many senators popped viagra in anticipation of this hearing?

[-] Hello_there@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

Wait until they find out about apples airdrop and androids nearby share. By which one kid can spread porn to an entire lunchroom.
But sure, let's worry about sex scenes in books.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 12 points 9 months ago

Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are.

I think it's important to learn about experiences you also don't share, so you can understand others better as well.

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this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2023
157 points (97.0% liked)

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