Gay penguin book gets most US ban requests

A controversial children’s story about gay penguins has come top in a list of books Americans have asked public libraries to withdraw.

The American Library Association run an annual Banned Books Week which highlights books which library users have requested to be banned.

The book at the top of the list, entitled And Tango Makes Three, is about two male penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo who raise a baby penguin.

Some of the reasons given for requests to ban it include “anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group”.

In the UK last year, children’s books about homosexual relationships were removed from primary schools after Muslim parents protested.

Around 90 parents from two schools in Bristol gathered to discuss the books with teachers.

The group included some non-Muslim parents who were also concerned about the material.

A governor at one of the schools, Farooq Saddique, said: “The agenda was to reduce homophobic bullying and all the parents said they were not against that side of it, but families were saying to us ‘our child is coming home and talking about same-sex relationships, when we haven’t even talked about heterosexual relationships with them yet’.”

Mr Saddique said parents were angry that they had not been consulted on the introduction of the materials.

Some homosexual activists have said that schools are required to use such storybooks because of new ‘gay rights’ laws on the provision of goods and services.

But The Christian Institute won a ruling in the High Court in September 2007 explicitly stating that the laws do not apply to the school curriculum.