"Heather and her critics" by Leslea Newman

Newman, Leslea. "Heather and her critics." The Horn Book Magazine. Boston: Mar/Apr 1997. Vol. 73, Iss. 2; pg. 149, 5 pgs.

Leslea Newman writes an extensive, passionate article in The Horn Book Magazine questioning her critics, "What messages are you giving to all children, when you pretend there is only one type of family, and render the rest invisible?" (par. 17).

Heather Has Two Mommies along with Daddy's Roommate has experienced an extreme amount of backlash since 1992. First, in Portland, Oregon an anti-gay campaign was launched and those two books were passed around at an organizational meeting to show how there is a "militant sexual agenda" sweeping the nation (par. 10). Second, the two books including another Leslea Newman book Gloria Goes to Gay Pride, began disappearing from the shelves of libraries all across the United States. Soon after, Alyson Publications promised copies of the books to the first libraries that phoned in, and immediately those 500 phone calls came. The third controversy was in New York City surrounding a first grade curriculum called "Children of the Rainbow". This curriculum was a 443 page bibliography designed to teach first graders "respect for all racial and ethnic groups" (par. 13). After a long struggle, Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate were removed from the curriculum.

Leslea Newman began writing these books after her own experience as a Jewish child who thought her family must have something wrong with it since they were never represented in the children's books she read. She knew that children needed to see themselves in the books they read in order to feel like they relate to the story. Leslea Newman is a lesbian, so she has the insider perspective when writing the books that she does, which mostly include a child with lesbian or gay parents. I find Leslea's article to be compelling with the issue of GLBTQ literature on the shelves for children. She writes, "Fear is irrational" (par. 12) and reminds her critics that many of the children who grow up to be gay were raised by heterosexual parents reading them books about heterosexual characters. Therefore, parents who want to embrace the world's diversity by bringing GLBTQ literature into the home are not perpetuating homosexuality. Instead, they are trying to stop the hate by showing an awareness. This awareness is shown in Heather Has Two Mommies by explaining how each family is different, yet special and loving.