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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte schools superintendent and his top lieutenants have ordered a picture book about two male penguins raising an egg removed from school libraries.
But the superintendent, Peter Gorman, said yesterday he will let a committee review the decision after questions from reporters indicated that he and his staff sidestepped the school district's policy by banning the book.
"And Tango Makes Three," the real-life story of "the very first penguin in the zoo to have two daddies," has drawn objections in schools or public libraries in several states. All decided to keep the book, according to the American Library Association. Charlotte-Mecklenburg's public library has also rejected a request to remove it, a spokeswoman said.
The school district pulled the book without receiving a formal complaint. Gorman said a couple of parents had asked him about the book, in which two male penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo pair up and hatch an adopted egg, and Republican County Commissioner Bill James had e-mailed him.
James said he read an online article about the book and asked Gorman whether school libraries had it. "I am opposed to any book that promotes a homosexual lifestyle to elementary school students as normal," he said.
Four schools in the district had the book.
On Nov. 30, top school administrators sent a memo to principals and media specialists explaining the decision to ban the book from all schools.
"First, it is a picture book that focuses on homosexuality. Second, we did not feel that such information was vital to primary students. Next, we did not believe the book would stimulate growth in ethical standards, and the book is too controversial," it said.
Banning books is controversial, too.
"One parent's decision shouldn't dictate whether or not the book is available to all the other families in the community," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the American Library Association. "Any challenge to a book is ultimately an attempt to remove an idea from public discourse."
Banning "Tango" is a bad idea, she said, and doing it without conducting an open, balanced review is worse.
The national controversy over the book began in March, when Missouri parents asked two public libraries to remove it. Complaints also surfaced in Georgia, Tennessee, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois.
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And Tango Makes Three is based on a true story of two male penguins, Silo and Roy, at the Central Park Zoo that tried to care for an egg-shaped rock as if it were a real egg. The zoo keepers gave them an extra egg from a pair of penguins that had historically been unsuccessful at raising two at a time. Roy and Silo cared for the egg and hatched a female penguin which was then named Tango. Roy and Silo "ended" their paired relationship (which had lasted around six years) when a new female was introduced to the enclosure. There is one other male-male pair at the zoo at the moment - Cass and Wendell.
Needless to say, it makes sense for conservatives to be upset because upon reading this book a child would realise the whole "it's not natural" argument isn't as justified as previously thought, and they might begin to *gasp* start questioning thier parents' beliefs at an early age!
On another note, let's all feel sorry for poor Roy, and also see how Tango herself grew up to start her own same-sex relationship:
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Here's the latest on Tango, Roy and Silo, the New York penguins making news in Charlotte.
Warning: The folks who were disturbed by "And Tango Makes Three," a picture book about two penguin papas hatching an egg, may want to shield young readers from the newest twists in this evolving love story.
A quick recap: Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo, paired up and hatched baby Tango from an adopted egg. Their story was immortalized in a 2005 children's book.
The book promptly drew complaints that it pushed a homosexual agenda; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools briefly banned it before returning it to shelves Thursday, pending a January review.
Meanwhile, Silo ditched Roy last year for Scrappy, a California gal. Wednesday's report left some readers worried about Roy, after the Observer quoted a New York Times report saying he "has been seen alone, in a corner, staring at a wall."
Roy remains a bachelor, says zoo spokeswoman Kate McIntyre. But she says readers shouldn't fret.
"Penguins do that (look at the wall) when they don't want to look at a visitor," she said.
Silo and Scrappy nested together but failed to produce a chick. It seems Silo, a mature 19-year-old (penguins live to their mid-20s) took up with a much younger mate, who isn't ready to reproduce.
Tango is 6 now and has found a mate of her own: Tazuni, another young female.
McIntyre says such experimentation isn't unusual among penguins. When same-sex pairings don't produce chicks, she said, penguins usually split up and move on.
"They're young. They're just kind of going through the motions."
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Charlotte Observer | 12/22/2006 | Tango (now 6) has girlfriend
So, the discussion in this thread is threefold:
1.) To discuss the attempted censorship of the book in school libraries, and whether or not educators/parents are justified in thier concerns
2.)To discuss what all these same-sex relationships going on amongst penguins means.
3.) To discuss Roy and Silo's successful parenting of a child, and whether or not Tango's eventual gay relationship means anything about homosexuality being passed down genetically or through the parenthood of the child- or, at least, that homosexuallity comes naturally to penguins when it is convenient for them to form same-sex relationships.
4.) Do you agree with books that educate children in this manner? What about movies such as Bambi(which taught about the "dark side" of hunting) and Happy Feet(Which blatantly denounced overfishing and made it central to the storyline)?