Tearing words from the dictionary

MONTGOMERY - An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries.

A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for "the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the "homosexual agenda."

The "homosexual agenda?" Are these people for real? This is an elected representative, proposing grilled book a la Hitler.

What he proposes would eliminate every mention of homosexuality from public litterature or research. Everything. From Plato to Oscar Wilde to Ragnfrid. I'm reminded of what Alan Moore wrote, in his graphic essay "The Mirror of Love:"

[Margaret Thatcher] let a clause pass into law that her chief minister for Local Government described as being aimed at banishing all trace of homosexuality : The act itself, all gay relationships, even the abstract concept would be gone, a word torn from the dictionary.

Why do people insist on making war on words these days? "Terror," "homosexuality," "evolution." What's next? "Gravity?" "Socialists?"

[Edit: Bookslut suggests that anyone living in the US "call Allen at (205) 556-5310 to let him know what you think about his proposed law."]