What's Next, Bruce? Banning 'Birds & Bees' Books

Friedman Losing Traction With Concerned Parents

This is a work of opinion, but it's got some facts too.

Geesh, and I thought I had a dirty mind.

The late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once declined to define pornography to the court, but famously added, But I know it when I see it.

I thought I did, too, but after seeing some of the books in Clay schools that activist-parent Bruce Friedman has challenged, I’m confused. That guy’s mind is a lot dirtier than mine. He’s a one-man smut-detector with a pornographic memory.

For example, he just bragged that Anne Frank’s diary was one of “over “300 pornographic titles that will not be going back on the shelves, ever.” (Not ever? Sounds like a book ban to me.)

A little background: “The Diary of Anne Frank” is one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th century, more remarkable for the fact that it was written by young teen. Frank was 15 when she died of typhus while imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen after having been forced there by—irony alert—people who liked to ban books and burn them too.

The original version of “Diary” was published in 1947, having been edited by her dad who survived the war. In 1999, Time magazine named Frank one of the most important people of the century.

In 2018, Anne Frank's “Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” was released to freshen the story for contemporary audiences, authorized by the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, Switzerland. For Jewish people, Anne Frank’s account has been the closest thing to sacred in a secular text, and the picture-book version was received as a fitting extension of the original.

Hadassah Magazine wrote:

Through text and images of seamless intelligence, Anne emerges as a wryly sophisticated, maturing young lady. . . Folman expertly balances Anne’s exterior and interior observations. While not minimizing her terrifying circumstances, he focuses more on her wisecracks than on her fears. . . Polonsky’s extraordinary imagination and draftsmanship propel Anne’s revered diary. . . This graphic novel is a valuable extension to all the literature that has emanated from Anne Frank’s diary.”

And Jewish Journal:

Folman and Polonsky have reclaimed Anne Frank in all of her humanity, and they allow us to witness for ourselves her beauty, courage, vision and imagination, all of the qualities that make her life and early death so heartbreaking. And, in doing so, they have elevated the tools of the comic book to create an astonishing work of art.” —Jewish Journal.

The adaptation is 160 pages; illustrators added three pages of content not included in Dad’s original. These are the naughty bits, according to Friedman. One topic was Frank’s brief recollection of lesbian thoughts. The other was a straighforward description of female reproductive anatomy, which you can read below.¹ NO SEX HAPPENED.

Friedman, though, had succeeded in drawing attention to himself from one of the beacons of the Jewish world. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency assigned a reporter to write a story about “the Jewish dad who got a version of Anne Frank’s diary and hundreds of other books banned.”

The Jewish Telegraph Agency used this photo montage to illustrate it’s profile on Bruce Friedman, the Jew who didn’t like a book about Jewish Holocaust heroine Anne Frank. Some of the other Holocaust titles Friedman has objected to are Sophie’s Choice, The Librarian of Auschwitz and Slaughterhouse Five, none of which are considered pornography.

The article was pretty fair to Friedman, and its a good source for background on the guy, but the fact that it was written at all was recognition that Friedman had been identified by his co-religionists as a bit of a freak.

“Read the book yourself and recognize that the "spicy" content adds NOTHING to teaching children about the Holocaust,” Friedman told Clay News & Views. He also said the book constituted “grooming.”

Someone from the schools told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the Anne Frank book was removed “based on state statute.”

Really, Clay schools?

Unlike Justice Potter, Florida law does have a definition of obscenity. Here is what Chapter 847 says:

“Harmful to minors” means any reproduction, imitation, characterization, description, exhibition, presentation, or representation, of whatever kind or form, depicting nudity, sexual conduct, or sexual excitement when it:

(a) Predominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest;

(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material or conduct for minors; and

(c) Taken as a whole, is without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

No, no and no. (a) The Anne Frank adaptation is an account of a girl having to hide 761 days in a secret room. (b) “Patently offensive” is actually a legal term that requires that a “work taken as a whole” offends community standards, not a couple brief discussions that include ZERO SEX. (c) The topic is as serious as a mass grave.

Anne Frank assumes the role of sex-ed teacher as she explains the details of female anatomy to a hypothetical boy her own age. Most of the graphic adaption is, by definition, pictures, but in this case, the actual text from the diary was included verbatim and can be read on a screenshot on the bottom of this story.

Plenty of Clay County people already dislike Friedman and what they say are his publicity-seeking antics. Recent Facebook posts suggest that now even Friedman’s allies are losing patience with him.

Tanya Kacsan is a former teacher and current Chapter Chair of Moms for Liberty, Clay County, the part of the nationwide group leading the charge against porn in schools. On Monday she replied to Friedman:

You would be so much more effective is you would stick to pornography books. Use Chapter 847 as a guide to help you understand the law. I have read many of your challenges, and many failed to fit the description of obscenity/pornography…You know I have found and challenged pornographic books in Clay. I just don't need a bunch of news articles written about me or people to pat me on the back.

Leigh Ann Lunsford, one of Friedman’s most ardent supporters, continues to be critical of the process by which the School Board and District are addressing the book issue, but she told Friedman his merit-less challenges were counter-productive. “While I understand some of what you challenge has no merit, but you’re doing it to make them enact a policy, it is actually causing this issue to fall on deaf ears,” Lunsford said.

Also addressing Friedman, Michele Duguay Hanson posted that stakeholders had all agreed that actual pornography had to be removed, then she added:

Too bad you can't start with the porn from your list as part of your dedicated public service to kids. As stated at the forum, we cannot remove books other than porn just because some parents don't like them. We can however put them in a place away from children and require parent permission. We respect all parental rights in Clay County.

Everything to protect kids, I get it.

But Clay County is growing like topsy. We may not like how that’s going—most of us—but it’s a fact. Most of us would also agree that, going forward, the fewer people that have to commute to work in Jacksonville the better, right?

Now, put yourself in the position of a good-paying company looking for a new Florida location. The decision-makers are probably not the culture-warriors of either side. All things otherwise equal, do you think they’ll choose to locate in a county famous for extremism in its governance of schools, driven by a folks who see ordinary discourse as pornography?

Naw…the dirty-mind thing? It’s a real bad look, Mr. Friedman.

SPICY STATUES? Under whatever definition of obscenity that got the Anne Frank adaption removed from Clay schools, these works by Michelangelo would also have to be banned. Both are publicly displayed on church property, and are considered suitable—as is—to appear on prime-time television, not just cable TV but CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS.

1. Anne Frank’s treatise on the female body should be age-appropriate for any child who has received the “birds & bees” lecture. Plus, one would assume that slightly more than half of the child population would already have some familiarity with the subject matter.