Reporter: Sarah Palin Tried To Ban Gay Books

Queerty:

Republican running mate Sarah Palin says she's a reformer, but what kind remains unknown.

According to sources in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin tried to use her sway as mayor to censor the local library. Though then-librarian Mary Ellen Baker tells ABC News Palin didn't specifically ask her to censor any specific titles, journalist Paul Stuart attests that Baker, who was later fired, had named names. And - surprise! - one of the books had gay themes:

Stuart told PolitiFact that in a conversation with [Baker] after his article ran, she listed three titles. He said he could recall only two, and initially said they were I Told My Parents I'm Gay and I Asked My Sister. We looked for these titles; they don't appear to exist.

"Mary Ellen told me that Palin asked her directly to remove these books from the shelves," Stuart said. "She refused."

Read the whole story: Queerty

Comments

[obamaluv]

12:25 PM on 09/13/2008

on this she is correct our society is shamefull.

Support muslimsforobama08.com

[ShamusNYC]

09:59 AM on 09/11/2008

Sarah Palin is the white "christian" version of a Taliban Mullah

[sklfcats]

09:25 AM on 09/11/2008

Good for you Palin

[IronMikeHouston]

06:07 AM on 09/11/2008

I love it at the HuffPost. The Huffpost has an article that McCain's camp is distorting FactCheck and then the Huffpost writes this story which is also a story FactCheck says is untrue.

Anyway, the libraries aren't as important as they used to be because of the internet. If you want to read gay sex books, go buy them or read it on the net. The taxpayers don't need to be buying gay books. If I was in charge of the library, there wouldn't be one gay sex book on the shelves!

[Whinger]

06:04 AM on 09/11/2008

Sarah would fit right in with Irainan bury your head in the sand policy!

There are no gays in Alaska or Iran!

[alguien]

10:19 PM on 09/10/2008

my gut tells me that she probably inquired into the possibility of removing certain books from the library shelves but the article relies entirely on hearsay and doesn't offer anything but a reporter's jogged memory to support the argument which is about as reliable a source as my gut instinct.

[DEConservative]

09:38 PM on 09/10/2008

And here is another Huffington Post/Daily KOS crap story. Completely untrue and a total smear. Typical left wing garbage. At least right wingers latch onto ACTUAL stories like Wright, terrorist ties and actual stumbles (lipstick on pigs) and don't blatantly make things up.

[alguien]

10:16 PM on 09/10/2008

wow! i think you really believe that garbage you're spewing.

[BluegrassLatina]

07:00 PM on 09/10/2008

This is insane.
I cannot believe all the dirt we have on these two chuckle-heads and all they are talking about is friggen lipstick on TV. Why can't we organize and have a good ol' revolt with pitchforks and flaming sticks and get these lying sacks once and for all?

[KBAR]

06:09 PM on 09/10/2008

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.

[dwillisno1]

06:53 PM on 09/10/2008

Is it your belief that this "ready to be president" vp candidate, was so ill informed and ignorant that she actually needed to ask "what if" questions about removing books from the library? Some political scholar she is! Moreover, banning books is bad form, except in fundamentalist extreme right wing religious circles.

[odoreida]

06:53 PM on 09/10/2008

You forgot to add that when the librarian did leave, she resigned of her own volition.

[loax]

05:34 PM on 09/10/2008

McCain/Palin = Bush Cheney!

[LAB10]

05:27 PM on 09/10/2008

Ads or no ads, McCain is a third term Bush. If Bush is what you like and want again, vote for McCain. You even get to double down because Palin is more right wing extremist than Bush and McCain. McCain and Palin are BUSH, BUSH, AND MORE BUSH.

[schatsie]

09:22 PM on 09/10/2008

you are absolutely correct, we will be a total laughing stock of the world when we have exorcism, creationism and abstinence and faith based healthcare.... back to the future so to speak... Where are you, Christopher Lloyd when we need you.....

I can smell the Palin Salem Witch Trials now...

[londongal]

05:26 PM on 09/10/2008

Ms. Palin's religous beliefs about gay people are the same as evangelicals like Dobson, Robertson and their ilk -- THEY HATE HOMOSEXUALS!!!!

So if indeed the story is true, why is it a newsflash that she would want to ban so-called "gay" books from the local library?

[BrettnCalgary]

06:11 PM on 09/10/2008

Nobody is surprised, they are concerned about her inability to understand what a proper role her religious views should take in public policy. If I were an American I would be concerned. Even B*sh hasn't tried to clean the nation's libraries to his religious liking, as far as I know.

[DEConservative]

09:40 PM on 09/10/2008

And neither did she. This is a left wing RUMOR, and the Huffington is a left wing rumor mill. I like to come here and stir things up, keeps me sharp when I debate libs daily.

[odoreida]

06:56 PM on 09/10/2008

You're setting up a hypothetical and then treating it as if it's a fact. The point is, whatever Palin thinks about gay people -- and what we've heard so far is entirely speculation from Obama supporters -- she hasn't banned any books at all, nor has she advocated banning them.

Your belief that she might want to ban them has no bearing on this -- or any other -- discussion. It is simply lurid speculation.

[serena1313]

04:58 PM on 09/10/2008

What is frustrating about this story is that there are so many different versions. And now Sarah Palin has a "Truth Squad" muddying up the waters -- as if they aren't muddy enough.

Originally I read that Palin did make inquires about banning some books. After applying pressure and not getting the results she wanted Palin then tried to fire the librarian. Once the public found out there was a huge outcry so she backed-off.

Whether it is spin or she really did target "Gay books" anti-gay conservatives would find nothing unusual about that. That is what is so frustrating about this scenario. It is very difficult getting to the truth.

The fact that Palin wanted to (mis)use her power to ban books and when she did not get her way she sought retribution on the librarian are both very disturbing. While Iam not trying to minimize the subject it suggests Palin is biased against a whole sect of human beings, too.

We do not need another administration abusing power to retaliate against whole swaths of individuals. It is obvious that both Palin and McCain are willing to lie and cheat their way into office. If anyone thinks McCain and Palin will not do likewise once [god forbid] in office, then they are absolute fools. These things are being revealed for a reason. We need to pay attention.

If voters give them a free pass I shudder to think what America will be like in a few years!

[1099]

05:38 PM on 09/10/2008

"What is frustrating about this story is that there are so many different versions."

Usually, I find that the more versions of a story that exist the less likely that the story is actually true. Of course, whether or not this is true really isn't important to the people on Huffpost anyway so run with it!

[Dynamohum]

05:59 PM on 09/10/2008

Rpugs are such tr 0 lls The story is true, if you have half a brain it can be checked by an individual! Check the Alas kan new spapers, from that time period. They do not know which books but it is fact that she tried.

[odoreida]

06:57 PM on 09/10/2008

"What is frustrating about this story is that there are so many different versions."

That's because the story has been invented and embellished by lots of different people.

[Bagger]

04:58 PM on 09/10/2008

This woman is wacko! Ban on this Palin!

[LemonMeringue]

04:29 PM on 09/10/2008

I hope the election organizers around Sandpoint, Idaho are gearing up for a turnout many times heavier than normal.

The real haters will come out to vote for her.