Monday, March 9, 2009

West Bend Gay Censorship

A West Bend mother filed a complaint against the West Bend Community Memorial Library library over a link on the library Web site titled "Out the of Closet," which includes nearly 50 books written for young adults about gay, lesbian and transgender issues. The library director said the link has been there for five years.



What was anticipated to be a lengthy Library board meeting Tuesday night turned out to be a very short evening for everyone involved.

That’s because an overflow crowd forced the postponement of a meeting that was scheduled to discuss a recent complaint filed by West Bend residents Ginny and Jim Maziarka about questionable materials available within the West Bend Community Memorial Library.

The large crowd of people that included students and adults of all ages had hoped to offer their opinions on this subject, but the numbers exceeded the 265-capacity limit of the council chambers at City Hall. The room also included all four Milwaukee television stations.

"We have exceeded room capacity, and the meeting will have to be postponed to a later date to accommodate the (large) crowd," Library Board President Kathryn Engelbrecht told the audience. "We apologize for the inconvenience, but it’s for the safety of everyone."



Complaintant Ginny Maziarka blogs her side.