At a time when gay culture is gaining much wider acceptance in American society, when it comes to children, sensitivities run higher than usual. Despite dismal sales, more publishers are beginning to market children’s books which contain gay and lesbian themes. In addition, an onslaught of teen fiction revolving around such characters has become available to young readers.
The fairly new literary genre has become so prolific in recent years that popular online bookstore Amazon.com has developed a category listing of books geared towards gay and lesbian youth, children with gay parents and other youths who would like to explore such themes.
Despite an increase of available children’s books which include gay issues on the market, schools and libraries seem less interested in stocking books geared towards young readers, opting instead to increase purchases of books which contain gay and lesbian themes written for teenagers. Purchases of similar books written for younger children have been low--and controversial at best.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported on the story of Martha Freeman, author of The Trouble With Babies. The book introduces readers to Holly, a 9-year-old girl who goes on many quirky adventures with new friends when she moves into a new neighborhood with her parents. The once lonely and frightened Holly is positively transformed through her friendships, which solidifies a theme that promotes acceptance amongst children of all backgrounds.
The Trouble With Babies was released to glowing reviews, yet bombed in sales, leading to a loss of paperback rights. Though the book was not specifically related to homosexuality, it contains a brief passage regarding two gay fathers and their adopted son. Regardless of the fact that the book does not focus on children with gay parents in any significant way, the simple reference to homosexuality discouraged many librarians from purchasing the title. Claiming the author was writing with a "homosexual agenda" deemed inappropriate for children, librarians pulled the title from most of the scarce shelves that had decided to stock it nationally.
During the three years since Freeman’s run-in with unhappy parents, those who wish for schools, libraries and bookstores to equally stock children’s books with homosexual and heterosexual themes are gaining more ground.
A particularly strong example of popular contemporary literature geared towards educating children about homosexuality is the much-lauded children’s book And Tango Makes Three. Written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, and illustrated by Henry Cole, the story is inspired by the true story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo who appeared to be "mating for life." The couple first adopted a stone to raise together before zookeepers gave them a rejected egg from a mixed-sex penguin couple. Roy and Silo successfully hatched the egg and raised the baby penguin, called Tango, together. The book sweetly chronicles the penguin couple’s time raising Tango, and indicates to child readers that there is no need to mourn the lack of a stereotypically traditional family. And Tango Makes Three is the winner of multiple book awards and in 2006 was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book. The title is available from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
The responsibility for stocking varied children’s literature does not lie in the hands of librarians alone. Weary of fights with parents over controversial issues, many librarians and teachers feel a need to avoid the parents who will inevitably object to book sales, and carry their fights on to the school board where the books are inevitably removed from shelves to avoid larger conflict.
Advocates for equality in children’s literature say that this is "clearly an issue of censorship." Saying if someone objects to a book, they can choose not to read it or buy it for their child, Boston mother Jessica Davis says: "No one has the right to impose their views on others. That’s the bottom line." Jessica says that she purchased And Tango Makes Three for her 7-year-old daughter after she expressed an interest in penguins. "It was a chance to expose her to the realities of the world in a warm, non-threatening way. She is going to find out about homosexuality eventually anyway, I’d rather my daughter read it in this context than get inaccurate information from peers."
