http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2005/06/24/20050624-B1-04.html

Residents want gay publications out of libraries

Friday, June 24, 2005

Leah Rupp

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The gay newspapers Outlook Weekly and Gay People’s Chronicle are among the free weeklies available at the Upper Arlington libraries.

Several Upper Arlington residents want two gay publications removed from their local libraries’ lobbies.

The libraries have several free periodicals in their foyers, but the group is objecting only to Outlook Weekly and Gay People?s Chronicle, calling them "disgraceful."

A full-color cover photograph of two men about to kiss and articles about explicit sex cross the line, Mark Bloom said.

"I’m angry about this," he said. "As a heterosexual male, I can’t get a copy of Playboy at the library. What’s next? Pornographic, homosexual DVDs available to check out?"

Upper Arlington Library Director Ann Moore said the group is unfairly targeting gays.

"This just feels a little discriminatory," she said. "I am sure that there are some gay or lesbian people who live around here, and they are taxpayers, too."

Upper Arlington’s population hovers at about 34,000, but the library has more than double that number of people registered as cardholders.

"We are like any other library in Franklin County, we recognize anybody in the state of Ohio and represent all kinds of people," Moore said.

It isn’t about being opposed to homosexuality, said Tim Rankin, one of five residents who spoke to library-board members at their June 14 meeting. Rankin is a city councilman and the president of the Upper Arlington Republican Club, but said he is speaking as a concerned citizen and a father.

"I would feel the same way about a woman and man kissing," he said. "This material is a ticking time bomb ? there is no one standing around it, watching who picks it up."

The library should be rid of all materials that are sexual in nature, including Maxim and the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, Rankin said. He isn’t opposing other free publications such as The Other Paper and Columbus Alive.

"You have to dig for something explicit in those," he said.

Bloom said he and his two children periodically discard stacks of the gay newspapers in bins outside their local library, which the city attorney’s office says is legal.

"Once it is in their possession, they can do it, unless they are breaking another law like littering," Jeanine Amid Hummer said.

A disclaimer on Outlook calls it theft and asks that only those who intend to read an issue take one, said Editor Chris Hayes.

He said Outlook has faced opposition in other Columbus suburbs, including Dublin.

"Our content is automatically considered more explicit because it’s on a hot topic."

The library board has asked for legal advice on the matter. Moore said the residents were told that their concerns will be taken into consideration when the board reviews the library’s operations.

"It’s best when these decisions are made at the local level so that they reflect the community," said Lynda Murray, spokeswoman for the Ohio Library Council.

She said she believes the board members are representative of Upper Arlington and is confident they’ll make the right decision.

In the meantime, Rankin says his group isn’t going away.

"I’m not opposed to any type of lifestyle. Just don’t throw it in my face."

lrupp@dispatch.com