Angels Furor In Illinois

Wingnuts and Freepers are calling for a deluge of complaints to be rained down upon school administrators at an Illinois high school after Angels In America was offered as a selection in spring English classes.

Deerfield High School, in Deerfield, Illinois, is offering the books "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" (Part One & Two) - laced with graphic sexual content, including gay sex, pervasive expletives, religious denigration and mockery - in English classes this spring.

The books contain graphic descriptions of sodomy heretofore only heard of in hardcore homosexual pornography. With numerous uses of the 'f' word and vulgar sexual references to Mother Teresa, the Mother of Jesus, and God.

"After almost 15 years of school advocacy and reviewing many objectionable books and curricula, I have never seen anything this vulgar and harmful to students," says Lora Sue Hauser, Executive Director of North Shore Student Advocacy. "Parents, taxpayers and concerned citizens must force themselves to read these excerpts, as horrific as they are, so you know what kids are being exposed to. The school justifies this egregious choice because of its themes of hope. Evidently, all great literature with themes of hope have already been exhausted so teachers need to start offering pornography. We say - enough."

The local state attorney's office has deemed Angels to be pornographic, making it illegal to distribute to minors, but schools and libraries have broad exemption to the law. Is Angels In America appropriate for high schoolers? It's certainly not erotic although the Freepers call it porn.