Health
Sex education book to remain in Colorado library
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Sex education book to remain in Colorado library
Sex education book to remain in Colorado library
Library officials in Weld County, Colo., have rejected a request to ban the book It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health, which includes a matter-of-fact discussion of sexual orientation, saying such a move would violate freedom of speech. Jeannie McAllister of Evans asked the library board to ban the book, which is intended for children ages 10 to 14, after her young children brought it home. Illustrations include a couple having sex, a man putting on a condom, and childbirth. McAllister called the illustrations pornographic and said they could lead children to sexual addiction. "They pick up a book like this and their sexual curiosity is awakened," she said. The Reverend Ray Grant also spoke in favor of banning the book because it discussed such topics as homosexuality and abortion. But library board member Janine Freeman said that while she would have reservations in showing the book to her children, she believes it should be available in the library to children and parents who wish to read it. "If we start taking books off our shelves, we lose the most important thing, and that's freedom," she said.