ALA Conference GLBT Round Table Program: “What Makes Tango so Scary”
Contact: Isaac Tufvesson,
Communications Specialist,
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS),
American Library Association (ALA)
(312) 280-2140
NEWS
For Immediate Release,
June 22, 2009
CHICAGO - The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Round Table (GLBT RT) of the American Library Association will sponsor a program during the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in Chicago to focus on the issues of intellectual freedom, child development and censorship of children’s book with LBGT themes, called “What Makes Tango so Scary? Serving Your Whole Library Population, Intellectual Freedom, and Censorship of LGBT Children's Books.”
The program will feature the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Richardson, is a clinical and academic psychiatrist with a longstanding interest in psychoanalysis, sexual development and parenting. He teaches psychoanalytic theory at the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Research and Teaching at Columbia University. Parnell is a playwright, author, and television producer. He co-produced the hit series “West Wing.” His plays include ‘Flaubert’s Latest’, ‘An Imaginary Life’ and ‘QED.’ Parnell and Richardson will talk about their experience as authors of the most frequently banned book since ‘Tango’ was published in 2005.
Four librarians will also be featured in the program, including Jamie LaRue, director of Douglas County Libraries in Colorado, which received several challenges to “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.” Other panelists include Carolyn Caywood, Bayside Special Services in Virginia Beach, Va., discussing the history of censorship of LBGT-themed children’s materials; and Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library.
The program will be held frp, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, in W-194a of the McCormick Place Convention Center.
