Oklahoma Sucks will present the next installment if its multi-part discussion of the state’s attempt to move “sexually explicit” content in state libraries to an adult section.

I really wanted to use this next installment of this multi-part segment to give my opinion as to why HB 2158, which would move “sexually explicit” content in state libraries to an adult section, among other unconstitutional actions.  I recently wrote a letter to my congressmen and I thought that summed everything up pretty well.  So here is my letter.

Why are so many of Oklahoma’s college graduates leaving for other states?  It’s because other states offer more opportunities. 

Why does Oklahoma have so few opportunities? 

People in other states have an impression of what Oklahomans are all about.  The recent comments by Charles Barkley are a great example.  These people don’t get these impressions from the media.  They get them from the evidence we give them; evidence like House Bill 2158.

As you are most likely aware, this bill will force libraries to move “sexually explicit” books or ones with “homosexual” themes from children’s sections and put them into an adults-only section. 

The bill will also force libraries to restrict “minors” from checking out these books without parental permission, as well as restricting the expenditure of any library funds unless the library complies.

According to Justice William Brennan in the Board of Education v. Pico (1982), a library is “a place dedicated to quiet, to knowledge and to beauty . . . students must remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding,” and “the student learns that a library is a place to test or expand upon ideas presented to him, in or out of the classroom”. 

In our democracy, freedom of speech is paramount.  Without it, how can we expect future generations to make decisions for themselves or to act responsibly in a democratic society?  If this law passes, where does it stop?  Will the same type of law eventually extend to adults?

Keep in mind that my generation and the one’s that follow will inherit the world you give us.  When lawmakers decide what they think is best for us using the modernistic viewpoints and ideologies from how they were brought up, it completely disregards any hope of protecting and doing what’s best for us. 

It’s well known that the next generations will be more tolerant of alternative lifestyles and diverse races.  Restricting access of “homosexual” content to “minors” does not protect children.  It protects the belief systems of a dying philosophy; one that believes that homosexual people are not entitled to the same rights as heterosexual people. 

It’s an attempt to leave a legacy of discrimination that will outlive the lawmakers and make sure future generations are unable to progress as a society.

Please do whatever you can to oppose this bill.  I would like to know how you feel about this issue.  I am a constituent, a college student and a taxpayer.  And I vote.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 10th, 2006 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Fahrenheit 2158. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.