by Joy Behar is a woman who spent the last year getting “lit”. This year she is a woman who wants her books banned.
The comedian and The View co-host on Friday announced Joy’s Banned Book Club, a new weekly segment on the daytime talk show.
“Book bans have become almost commonplace,” she said. “In the last school year alone there were more than 2,500 cases of book bans in over 5,000 schools, including some of the best books ever written like ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘The Catcher in the’ Rye.’ Children’s books are also under attack. With that in mind, we’re introducing a new segment to the show this week.”
Joy’s Banned Book Club kicks off with the award-winning children’s book And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole.
The acclaimed 2005 book is inspired by the real-life story of two penguins at the New York Zoo who became friends during mating season and raised a chick together. Both adult penguins were males.
‘This ain’t some kinky'[50] Shades of Gray’ for penguins,” Behar quipped. “It’s a sweet, graceful way of introducing children to the concept of accepting same-sex relationships and non-traditional families.”
The book was removed from school libraries in Escambia County, Fla. last week because it was “inappropriate and inappropriate” for elementary school students, she said.
Behar then nodded to the ACLU, saying, “A person can decide they don’t want to read a book. A person can decide they don’t want their child to read a book, but a person can’t decide that an entire school or city can’t read a book.”
She added, “As far as ‘And Tango Makes Three’ goes, our studio audience gets to decide for themselves because you all get a copy.”
And Tango Makes Three has been a bone of contention since its release in 2005, only appearing on the American Library Assn.’s 2019 list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books.
Conservative lawmakers and parenting groups like Moms for Liberty and Mama Bears Rising have actively worked to get books like And Tango Makes Three off shelves – claiming that progressive ideas confuse their children about race, sexuality and gender.
Check out Behar’s Joy’s Banned Book Club announcement below:
