Wichita Falls Officials Consider
Censorship by Petition
Some six months after a Wichita Falls, Texas, minister failed to get the gay-positive Daddy's Roommate and Heather Has Two Mommies banned from the public library, the issue has resurfaced in a different guise. A city council member is collecting signatures on a petition calling for the library to establish a restricted area for children's books; in response, resident Stormy Nicholas has posted an electronic petition drive opposing the mandate.
According to the January 13 Wichita Falls Times Record News, Council member Bill Altman contended at a January 12 City Council meeting that “a very large segment of the community . . . wants the council to take some action in the best way possible.” Nicholas, who hopes to form the Wichita Falls Coalition Against Censorship, retorted, “If you allow someone to restrict a specific book, where does it stop?”
The City Council will consider Altman's proposal, which would automatically restrict a book whenever 300 people sign a petition opposing the title, on February 2.
Posted January 18, 1999.
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