"And Tango Makes Three" The Most Challenged Book in America

Because heaven forbid we should have a true story about parental penguins in our libraries and schools.

And Tango Makes Three is a children's book that relates the story of two Chinstrap Penguins, Roy and Silo, who were a mated pair for six years and eventually hatched a raised a baby penguin, Tango.  Roy and Silo have since broken up (some hussy named Scrappy came along and stole Silo away from poor Roy) but for years the Central Park Zoo touted the couple as their "gay penguin" couple.

Since the adaptation of the story into a children's book, unfortunately, Roy and Silo's story of acceptance has become the most attacked book in libraries and schools, and this year once again became the American Library Association's most challenged book in America.

"'And Tango Makes Three' is an award-winning children’s book about the true story of two male Emperor Penguins hatching and parenting a baby chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo. The book has appeared on the ALA’s Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books for the past five years and returns to the number one slot after a brief stay at the number two position in 2009. There have been dozens of attempts to remove And Tango Makes Three from school and public library shelves. Those seeking to remove the book have described it as 'unsuited for age group,' and cited 'religious viewpoint' and 'homosexuality' as reasons for challenging the book."

Here's hoping that most of these institutions of learning saw through the bullcrap and kept this inspiring story on the shelves.

[ALA]