Venice Mayor Bans Children's School Books on Homosexuality and Disabilities

The new mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, has officially banned several school books on subjects such as homosexuality and disability, provoking a flurry of criticism. The banned titles include the French book 'Jean has two moms', which revolves around a wolf family with two mothers. The mayor said, "It is parents who need to educate their children on these things, and not schools."

The controversial move to ban the children's books was one of Brugnaro's promises during his election campaign. According to a statement published Wednesday, July 8, 2015, on the mayor's website, Brugnaro said that he would not be intimidated, and listed 49 books as blacklisted for schools.

Reacting to this announcement, organizations launched a marathon of public readings of the banned books. Several libraries encouraged people to read the banned titles with signs reading 'Blacklisted books, be a rebel, read them'.

Source: AFP