Teaching of Same-Sex Fairy Tale Draws Parents' Ire

A children's book, published by Berkeley-based Ten Speed Press, about the love between two princes was withdrawn from two British primary schools earlier this month after protests by local parents.

The 2002 book, "King & King," was written by Dutch authors Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland. It tells a fairy tale about a prince who is told to pick a princess for marriage, but ends up marrying one of the princess's brothers instead.

Since its publication, it has been used in elementary school classrooms and libraries in the United States and Britain, but has sparked protests by some.

In Britain, the book has been temporarily withdrawn from the curriculum of Easton Primary School and Bannerman Road Community School in the Bristol area.

"King & King" was introduced to the programs at the two Bristol primary schools by No Outsiders, a research project designed to tackle issues such as lesbian and gay equality, said Katharine de Lisle, spokesperson for the Bristol City Council.

"At Bannerman the book was part of the teaching about different kinds of families," de Lisle said. "At Easton, it was taught specifically to tackle the issue of homophobic bullying."

De Lisle said the book was only temporarily withdrawn from the schools' curriculum because some parents disagreed with the use of the book and picketed outside the gates of both schools.

On March 18 parents protesting in front of both schools would not allow children to enter the schools, causing the children to be unsupervised.

"Children were asked not to attend school," de Lisle said. "In some cases children who walked alone to school were being turned away by the parents who were protesting, so we had unaccompanied children. We withdrew the material to ensure the safety of the children."

Despite the controversy, the publisher says it is proud to have published "King & King."

"There are many kinds of families in this country, and the children in these families and their friends deserve to see their situations in a positive light," states a release from the publisher.

Hayley Gonnason, a publicist for the publisher, said the book has also been banned in several different elementary school libraries in the United States.

"The biggest cases were in Massachusetts and North Carolina; the books were withdrawn from the schools' libraries," she said.

Gonnason said Ten Speed Press is still open to publishing all types of books in the future. In fact, in 2004, it published a follow-up book titled "King & King & Family," written by the same authors, in which the two kings adopt and raise a daughter.

In Britain, negotiations are currently underway between the two schools and the parents about reinstating the book as part of the schools' curriculum.

"The idea is that the book will be reintroduced once the tension between the schools and the parents are eased," de Lisle said.

Renee DePalma, co-leader of the No Outsiders project at the University of Sunderland, said the researchers anticipated some protests from parents when the project first started, but still hoped children would learn from the books.

"We expect that, some day, reading a story about a child who happens to have two mums will not be any big deal," she said. "We expect that parents and other family members who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender will feel just as welcome in the school as everyone else."

Tags: TRICYCLE PRESS, UNITED KINGDOM, TEN SPEED CYCLING