FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April, 2004
Cleis Press
Contact: Diane Levinson,
Marketing and Publicity Director
dlevinson@cleispress.com
ph: (415) 575-4700
fax: (415) 575-4705
Censorship of Cleis Press Author – in 2004?!?
Violet Blue Singled Out
Summary:
In Pennsylvania, a Delaware County library
patron protested the library’s inclusion of The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio
by Violet Blue, complaining to state legislators that the local library had
become "the porn capital of Delaware and Chester counties." While
the six other sex books listed in the patron’s complaint were eventually
returned to the stacks, Blue’s guide was relegated to a spot behind the
reference desk where patrons would have to ask for it by name.
In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Jack Whoriskey went to the Marple Library
in late 2003 in search of a book on the Atkins diet. Discovering several books
on sexuality on a nearby shelf, he borrowed Violet Blue’s The Ultimate
Guide to Fellatio (Cleis Press) and returned the next day to check out six
others. Mr. Whoriskey showed the books to the county council, as well as state
legislators and a representative of the local Pro-Life Coalition, explaining
in the Delaware County Times that the books are pornographic
and "there is no way they should be in a public library."
At meeting of some 75 residents to brainstorm what to do about the library’s seven books on sexuality in January, Mr. Whoriskey declared the Marple Library "the porn capital of Delaware and Chester counties." Others recommended that residents contact their clergy and elected officials, withhold library donations, and organize a peaceful protest against the library.
However, the board of the Marple County Public Library voted unanimously to retain the books. "We feel the books met the criteria we have set for book selection," board president Marcy Abrams noted. But a compromise with the citizens group forced the library to make a tough decision: The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio is now kept behind the reference desk – not on the shelf – for patrons who request it. The six other sexuality books are shelved in the browsable stacks.
Author Violet Blue was surprised at the compromise. "The Marple Library will continue to make accurate information about sex available to the people in their community – and that’s wonderful. But it’s unfortunate, although perhaps not surprising, that a book on oral sex was singled out for removal from the shelves."
Incidents such as this one are by no means unusual. Since 1990, the American
Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom has recorded
more than 7,000 book challenges, including 515 in 2002, the last year for which
they have complete records. The ALA only counts as a "challenge" a
formal, written complaint requesting a book be removed from library shelves
or school curriculum. About 75 percent of all challenges are to material in
schools or school libraries, and 25 percent are to material in public libraries.
However, the Office for Intellectual Freedom estimates that less than one-quarter
of challenges are reported and recorded. The American Library Association will
celebrate
the 23rd annual banned books week September 25—October 2, 2004.
Violet Blue is the author of three books, The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio, The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus, and The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos, and she is editor of Sweet Life, Sweet Life 2, and Taboo, all published by Cleis Press. Her website is www.tinynibbles.com.
Cleis Press co-publisher Frédérique Delacoste said, "Libraries are intended to foster the free exchange of ideas – it’s tragic when these sort of challenges occur there."
"Sex educators like Violet Blue are a lightning rod for the ire of conservatives whose strategy is to muster enough shock and moral outrage to stir up publicity for their agenda," says Cleis co-publisher Felice Newman. "We need writers like Violet, whose courage and openness continues to give us all permission to speak honestly about sex."
Based in San Francisco, Cleis Press has been publishing provocative books on sexuality, along with other subjects, since 1980. Other Cleis authors include Ann Bannon, Gore Vidal, Joan Nestle, Carol Queen, Achy Obejas, Patrick Califia, and Essex Hemphill. Cleis was named Outstanding Independent Press of 1997 and 1999 (Firecracker Alternative Book Awards), and its books and authors have won numerous Lambda Literary Awards.
For more information,
please contact:
Cleis Press
Diane Levinson, Marketing & Publicity Director
dlevinson@cleispress.com
ph: (415) 575-4700
fax: (415) 575-4705