An Idaho school district has permanently banned 24 books, including The Handmaid’s Tale.
In a move that seems pretty damn Handmaid’s Tale-y, the Nampa School District in Nampa, ID has voted to ban 24 titles from the district’s libraries, “forever.” In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale (which is purportedly on the list because of sex, not because the school board members object to the enslavement of women being portrayed in a negative light), the banned titles include Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, and It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, a book that teaches kids about puberty (presumably Nampa schools will be replacing it with the classic Wet Dreams, Periods, and More Ways You’re Disappointing Jesus).
This is obviously deeply sad—and sadly unsurprising—development, but we should also spare a thought for Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug’s grandson. “I would rather my 6-year-old grandson start smoking cigarettes tomorrow than get a view of this stuff one time at the public library,” Skaug said.
As ever, it’s truly unfathomable how much these people hate children.
[via KIVITV]
