1. raising the chorus leveraging 21st century media for intellectual freedom AMY SONNIE California Library Association Annual Conference Sacramento, CA Delivered Nov. 14, 2010. Revised Nov. 16, 2010

2. “ intro By Margot Kelley-Rodriguez ”

3. By 56 LGBTQ youth 1st person writing & art Non-fiction Goes beyond ‘coming out’ stories Nominated for awards by Lambda Lit and School Library Journal Temporarily out-of-print The Book Revolutionary Voicesedited by Amy Sonnie(Alyson Books, 2000)

4. “We need to pull ‘Revolutionary Voices’ by Amy Sonnie from our shelves. ... How can we grab the books so that they never, ever get backinto ccirculation [sic]. Copies need to totally disappear (as in not a good idea to send copies to the book sale).”— Email from Gail Sweet, Library Director,Burlington County Library System (NJ) REASON: “CHILD PORNOGRAPHY” Read original docs at blog.LibraryLaw.com

5. How it all started...

6. The Far-Right’s Echo Chamber:‘Fire Kevin Jennings’

7. Blogs > Reposts >FoxNews

8. > Threatening Public Comments

9. Beware the “homosexual agenda”

10. According to the Far-Right ...It’s blatant in books ... hidden in anti-bullying policies ... infused in school curricula ... and protected by libraries

11. > Local Forums (912 Project) used to plan “blitz” on school library

12. Burlington County, NJ why: “pervasively vulgar, obscene, and inappropriate.”— Beverly Marinelli, resident & 912 member =

14. Local chapter of 912 Projectused asvehicle to “blitz” school board and rally support

16. 1. If You Defend Information Access, You’re a Target Too Amy Sonnie ... The Cindy Sheehan of bookworms ...” “Teenagers should be exposed to ... expansive worldviews of great authors ... not the narrow, detached, theoretical manipulations of bitter Marxist hacks.” — Charles Winecoff

17. 2. Your Professional Correspondence Can Become Public Record

18. Raising the Chorus SOME LESSONS: There is ‘Value in Going Public’ Online Tools Are Necessary to Help Us Monitor the Debate & Inform Others Professional Communication Is Not Private (even your emails), So Be Thoughtful Save Everything (not just hyperlinks, which can break or disappear) Become Media Savvy Be strategic about your messages Utilize new media Identify spokespeople Call out lies and bias, but don’t let the other side control the debate

19. Raising the Chorus Some Great Outcomes: * Dozens of supportive articles; hundreds of tweets, postsand comments! * Challenge inspired a series ofstudent-led public performances! * Inspired community members and staff to speak out and get active * Created opportunities for learning & collaboration! HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES.... Some Lessons: There is ‘Value in Going Public’ Online Tools Help Us Monitor the Debate & Inform Others Save Everything (not just hyperlinks) Professional Communication Is Not Private (even your emails), So Be Thoughtful Become Media Savvy Be strategic Utilize new media Identify spokespeople Call out lies, but don’t let the other side control the debate

20. www.ilovelibraries.org/news/bbw/bbw3.cfm By Dee Venuto, Fall 2010

21. Students take the stage: www.revolutionaryreadings.com

22. — Brandon Monokian, actor & Revolutionary Readings director, in Phila. Weekly, 8/22/10

23. Blog: bannedlibrarian.wordpress.comTwitter: @bannedlibrarian Watch Revolutionary Readings on YouTube www.youtube.com/user/revreadings2010 Stay in touch.

24. Resources Background on This Case Dee Venuto. Intellectual Freedom Issues Briefing Session [video], ALA Annual Conference, Washington, DC (June 27, 2010). http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=1340 (segment begins near 34 min.) Dee Venuto. “Taking a Stand: The Value of Going Public.” I love libraries (2010). American Library Association. http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/bbw/bbw3.cfm Beverly Goldberg. Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Targeted in New Jersey Challenge. American Libraries (March 10, 2010). http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/03102010/obamas-safe-schools-czar-targeted-new-jersey-challenge Lauren Barack. NJ Library, Citing Child Pornography, Removes GLBT Book. School Library Journal (July 27, 2010.) http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/886066-312/nj_library_citing_child_pornography.html.csp Local Student/Alumni Response Revolutionary Readings website. http://www.revolutionaryreadings.com Issues in LGBTQ Youth Lit YALSA Literature Symposium, November 5, 2010: Beyond Stonewall: The Uphill Journey of Young Adult Fiction with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2010. http://www.malindalo.com/yalsa/

25. Citations http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/sean-hannitys-scalp-hunting-desperatSlide 8: Comments from Gateway Pundit “Fistgate” articlehttp://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2009/12/22/fistgate-xi-kevin-jennings-suggested-reading-for-kids-included-sick-book-that-promoted-sm-to-children-media-silent Slide 11. Screenshots taken from local 912 Project Meetup page, no longer public. http://www.meetup.com/912burlco/messages Slide 15: From and http://safelibraries.blogspot.com (8/2/10 and 8/18/10) and blogger Charles Winecoff (12/9/09) http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff Slide 16: Emails from Gail Sweet obtained by ACLU-NJ. Download on blog.librarylaw.com at http://bit.ly/9E6svj Slide 19: Venuto, Dee. “Taking a Stand: The value of going public,” ilovelibraries.org. See http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/bbw/bbw3.cfm Slide 20-21: Images from http://www.RevolutionaryReadings.com and facebook; quote from Maccar, Dave. “Theater group opposes book banning, reads excerpts, Burlington County Times, August 22, 2010. See http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times/bct_news_details/article/2465/2010/august/22/theater-group-opposes-book-banning-reads-excerpts.html Slide 2: Rodriguez-Kelley, Margot. (2000). “Introduction: ‘We are the ones we have been waiting for,’” Revolutionary Voices: A multicultural queer youth anthology (Los Angeles: Alyson Books), xxv-xxvi. Slide 3: Holloway, Lauren. Flickr image retrieved from http://search.creativecommons.org for non-commercial use. Based on the quote: "We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” —MLK Jr. Slide 4: Sweet, Gail. First quote in email to coworker Kim Gould (May 3, 2010). Second quote from email to coworker Andy Woodworth (May 25, 2010). Documents made public by ACLU-NJ. See http://blog.librarylaw.com/files/foiaemails.pdf Slide 5-8 : Screenshots taken from Internet:Slide 5: Gateway Pundit http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/12/fox-news-chapter-perverse-safe-schools-czar-hit-for-promoting-sex-explicit-books/Slide 6: Background image Gsagostinho from Flickr via http://search.creativecommons.org. Family Research Council via YouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFLVGJ_67HQSlide 7: Gateway Pundit and Crooks & Liarshttp://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/12/breaking-obamas-safe-schools-czar-is-promoting-porn-in-the-classroom-kevin-jennings-and-the-glsen-reading-list