User:Zac.schroepfer/sandbox

Final Draft of New Inputs:

Ankeny, Iowa Case:

In Ankeny, Iowa, in November of 2008, parents at the local elementary school were concerned with the contents of And Tango Makes Three and requested the library to remove the book. After the library denied their request, the parents appealed to their school board, asking that And Tango Makes Three be placed in a restricted section of the library, so only parents could check it out. The parents’, citing the nature in which the parents believed the book attempts to normalize homosexuality to young children, request comes from the idea that the children of the school should only be allowed to engage with this type of literature with the explicit permission of themselves. The restriction of the book would allow the parents to directly oversee when and where students could read this type of literature. The parents, next, wrote a letter to the newspaper of the city of Ankeny in order to “warn” other parents about the book. In an effort to preserve the book within the school district, the National Coalition Aganst Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression sent a letter urging the board to preserve students' access to And Tango Makes Three. Stating that “Those who object to this book are entitled to their view, but they may not impose it on others.  Any other decision threatens the principle that is essential to individual freedom, democracy, and a good education: the right to read, inquire, question, and think for ourselves.” In December of 2008, the School Board of Ankeny voted, by a vote of 6-1, to keep the book in the libraries as well as to add on an additional process of book review for the school system. During the hearing, the school board’s lawyer argued that a decision to remove the book from the shelves, if challenged, would likely not hold up in court.

Background Section:

Summary of Story of Roy and Silo:

At the Central Park Zoo, in 1998, the zookeeper noticed two chinstrap penguins who seemed to be especially fond of each other. The penguins would call for each other and complete the typical mating rituals that penguin couples usually completed. The biggest difference between them and the other penguins was that the two penguins, Roy and Silo, were both males. The homosexual pair was then seen by zookeeper, Robert Gramsay, building a nest and placing a rock in the nest—seen as an effort to hatch an egg. After no avail, the zoo staff at the Central Park Zoo provided an extra egg from another heterosexual couple to Roy and Silo for them to have as their own. After thirty-four days of Roy and Silo taking care of the egg, the baby penguin finally broke out of its shell. Roy and Silo then began taking care of a female baby penguin that the staff of the Central Park Zoo named Tango. After six years of their relationship, Silo left Roy for a female penguin named Scrappy. Roy continued raising Tango by himself as Silo continued to mate with his new female partner. Tango eventually grew up and began to mate with her homosexual female partner Tazuni.

Author Background:

[Information from the Other Class]

I would recommend putting the following quote from the lead in to reception part here:

Senior penguin keeper Rob Gramzay said that he never saw the pair complete a sex act, but the two did engage in mating rituals like entwining their necks and vocalizing to one another.

“	We wrote the book to help parents teach children about same-sex parent families. It's no more an argument in favor of human gay relationships than it is a call for children to swallow their fish whole or sleep on rocks.	”
— co-author Justin Richardson, New York Times (2005)

Homosexuality in the Animal Kingdom:

cientists have found ttaking it out of ver 1500 species have been recorded exhibiting some sort of homosexual behavior. Scientists also claim that, typically, animals in the animal kingdom are very unusually fully homosexual, but instead they engage in both homosexual and heterosexual activity. As sociologist Eric Anderson of the University of Bath in England says, “Animals don’t do sexual identity. They just do sex”. 

Altered Lead In Section to Reception:

Some parents have objected to their kids reading this book due to issue of homosexuality. Homosexuality in animals is seen as controversial by some social conservatives, who believe that asserting the naturalness of animal homosexuality affects the morality of homosexuality in humans. Others believe that it has no implications and is nonsensical to equate animal behavior to morality.

The American Library Association reports that And Tango Makes Three was the most challenged book of 2006, 2007, and 2008. The book dropped to second position in 2009 but returned to the top slot in 2010.

~~~~

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Expanded Ankeny, Iowa Case of And Tango Makes Three:

In Ankeny, Iowa, in November of 2008, parents at the local elementary school were concerned with the contents of And Tango Makes Three, and requested the library to remove the book. After the library denied their request, the parents appealed to their school board, asking that And Tango Makes Three be placed in a restricted section of the library, so only parents could check it out. Citing the nature in which the parents believe the book attempts to normalize homosexuality to young children, the parents request comes from the idea that the children of the school should only be allowed to engage with this type of literature with the explicit permission of the parents. The restriction of the book would allow the parents to directly oversee when and where students could read this type of literature. The parents even went further to write a letter to the newspaper of the city of Ankeny in order to “warn” other parents about the book. In an effort to preserve the book within the school district, PEN America and the American Library Association sent letters urging the board to preserve students' access to And Tango Makes Three. In December of 2008, the School Board of Ankeny voted, by a vote of 6-1, to keep the book in the libraries as well as to add on an additional process of book review for the school system. During the hearing ,the school board’s lawyer argued that a decision to remove the book from the shelves, if challenged, would likely not hold up in court.

~~~~

Background section of And Tango Makes Three:

At the Central Park Zoo, in 1998, the zookeeper noticed two chinstrap penguins who seemed to be especially fond of each other. The penguins would call for each other and complete the typical mating rituals that penguin couples usually completed. The biggest difference between them and the other penguins was that the two penguins, Roy and Silo, were both males. The homosexual pair was then seen by zookeeper, Robert Gramsay, building a nest and placing a rock in the nest with his perception of an interpretation to hatch the rock as an egg. After no avail, the zoo staff at the central park zoo provided an extra egg from another heterosexual couple to Roy and Silo for them to be able to attempt to hatch. After thirty-four days of Roy and Silo taking care of the egg, the baby penguin finally broke out of its shell. Roy and Silo then began taking care of a female baby penguin that the staff of the Central Park Zoo named Tango.

While this may come as a surprise to some, scientists have actually found that over 1500 species have been recorded exhibiting some sort of homosexual behavior. Scientists also claim that, typically, animals in the animal kingdom are very unusually fully homosexual, but instead they engage in both homosexual and heterosexual activity. As sociologist Eric Anderson of the University of Bath in England says, “Animals don’t do sexual identity. They just do sex”. In relation to the story of Roy and Silo, after six years of their relationship, Silo left Roy for a female penguin named Scrappy. Roy continued raising Tango by himself as Silo continued to mate with his new female partner. Tango eventually grew up and began to mate with her homosexual female partner Tazuni.

~~~~

Editing plan for And Tango Makes Three:

My plan is two fold. First of all, I feel as if there should be more of a background on Roy and Silo and the incidence of homosexuality within the animal kingdom/Penguins. So I will be focusing on improving that background. I have gathered the following sources for this improvement of this section.

Background of Roy and Silo/Sexuality in animals:

Richardson, Justin, Peter Parnell, and Henry Cole. And Tango Makes Three. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2005. Print.

Driscoll, Emily V. "Bisexual Species." Scientific American Mind 20.3 (2009): 20-5. Web.

(http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=f27f9291-4245-4faf-bafb-131b731d3d61%40sessionmgr120&hid=102&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVpZCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=40401025&db=aph)

By DINITIA SMITH. "Love that Dare Not Squeak its Name." New York Times (1923-Current file): B7. Feb 7, 2004 2004. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times. Web. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/92826003?accountid=11091>.

Collins, Nick. "Tell the Truth about Gay Cuddling Chimps, Attenborough Asked." The Daily Telegraph: 13. Feb 9, 2013 2013. International Newsstand. Web. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/1285224954?accountid=11091>.

Then, following that section, I believe that one topic that would be essential to add to this wikipedia page would be one on the topic of homosexuality and children’s literature. I believe that this topic is what makes this book so unique, and therefore should be a focal point of focus within the book. I have provided the following citations for this.

Homosexuality in Children’s literature:

Burke, Brianna R., and Kristina Greenfield. "Challenging Heteronormativity: Raising LGBTQ Awareness in a High School English Language Arts Classroom." English Journal 105.6 (2016): 46-51. Education Database. Web.

"Gay and Lesbian Literature and Studies." Encyclopedia of American Studies. MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016. Web.