Bloggers DO Make a Difference

In this case, a hearty well-done to Gateway Pundit.

New York Daily News:

Book aimed at gay teens banned from N.J. public library after complaints from Glenn Beck supporter
BY Meena Hartenstein

Complaints from a member of Glenn Beck's 9.12 Project have caused a New Jersey library to shelve a book aimed at gay teenagers.

The book, called "Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology," is a collection of first-person essays by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens, sharing their stories of coming out of the closet.

Calling it "pervasively vulgar, obscene, and inappropriate," Beverly Marinelli, a New Jersey mother, successfully lobbied to have the book removed from the library at Rancocas Valley Regional High School, the Talking Points Memo (TPM) website reports.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Marinelli's efforts were inspired by right-wing blogger Gateway Pundit's attacks on Kevin Jennings, President Obama's openly gay Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free schools.

Marinelli and another member of Beck's 9.12 Project also lodged a similar complaint in another nearby school district.

Librarians responded quickly to the complaints, ordering all copies of the book to be taken out of circulation.

"We need to pull 'Revolutionary Voices' from our shelves," librarian Gail Sweet wrote in an email, obtained by TPM. "Copies need to totally disappear."

Sweet called the book "child pornography" when asked to explain why the library had banned it.

"We do not like to remove books," Sweet wrote in an email. "It was felt, however, that the book was not appropriate."

"Revolutionary Voices" was named among the best adult books for high school students by the School Library Journal in 2001, and was in the school's library to help young people struggling with issues of sexuality.

Though Marinelli has not read much of the book, according to the Inquirer, she did cite a specific illustration of Boy Scouts watching two men have sex, calling it "the worst."

She says she isn't a "homophobe," just a "normal mother and grandmother" defending her conservative values.

"We did it for the children," she told the Inquirer.

According to its official website, Beck's 9.12 Project is aimed at Americans "looking for direction in taking back control of our country."

Marinelli identifies herself as Burlington County member of the group and once posted on a 9.12 Project website that she is "disgusted w/ what this Administration is doing and what is happening to our country."

In the fall, TPM reports, she took part in a protest against "indoctrination" at a local elememtary school, railing against a video of students singing Obama's praises.