On Jul. 8, the National Library Board (NB) removed two children’s titles from their shelves following a complaint made by a member of the public, who claimed they ‘don’t promote family values’.
And Tango Makes Three is about a supposed male penguin couple that successfully hatches and raises a young penguin. The book, which is based on the true story of real-life penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo, has stirred similar controversy in the United States. The other book is one centred on children adoption called The White Swan Express, which features a lesbian couple.
The complainant is believed to belong to the We are against Pinkdot in Singapore Facebook group, on which a letter by NLB’s assistant chief executive and librarian Tay Ai Cheng, was posted. It has since been removed.
In the letter, Tay explained that NLB “takes a strong pro-family stance in selecting books for children” and reviews thoroughly and withdraws from circulation any books highlighted by library visitors to contain “conflicting content”.
So far the public’s taken a stance similar to that which surrounded the Pink Dot event — on one side, the LGBT community, and the conservative population on the other.
The response has been so great — both sides have each activated their own online petitions — that it seems a press event has been roughly put together for today, so NLB can officially address the debate.
Stay tuned.
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