It's Not Obscene Until Dan Sullivan Says It Is

And if it's obscene, it probably involves drag shows or Pride displays

I'll take crazy over stupid any day.

• Joss Whedon

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

• Laurence J. Peter

We all know what obscene is, right? Or do we? Obscene is one of those words that seems simple until you try to begin unwinding its definition…and then discover how complex and value-laden it is. In the case of “obscene,” the truth quickly comes to the fore that one person’s obscenity is another’s day at the office.

Trying to come to a universally agreed-upon definition is like nailing Jell-O to a wall.

Well, that certainly irons it out, eh? Or not. All you have to do is define “morality,” “decency,” “indecent,” and “depraved,” and you’re good to go.

Good luck with that. I’ll be waiting here when you’re done.

So when Right-wing culture warriors and card-carrying members of the American Taliban decided to take on “obscenity,” there was a genuine threat to the 1st Amendment. They’re threatening to wield a chainsaw where, if anything is warranted, it’s a scalpel.

When the National Association of Christian Lawmakers held its annual conference at Liberty University earlier this month, members of the organization held a “para-legislative session” at which state legislators and religious-right activists proposed and discussed various resolutions and proposed pieces of sample legislation.

Among those participating in this session was Arkansas state Sen. Dan Sullivan, who pledged to use the next state legislative session to strip funding for any library in the state that is affiliated with the American Library Association.

Sullivan has been seeking to cut library funding for a while, and while he has not succeeded in doing so yet, he was still quite pleased with a law that was recently signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that allows for the removal of books and the possible prosecution of librarians for “disseminating a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed to be obscene.”

There’s that squishy phrase- “claimed to be obscene.” By whom? And what is obscene? Does one person’s definition of obscenity mean that the rest of us don’t get to see or experience what one person defines as obscene?

Who gets to be the “morality/decency” police? And what qualifies them to occupy that seat of power, in which they get to decide- not only for themselves but for others as well? I can only speak for myself, but I resent anyone feeling they have the right to speak and/or pass judgment on my behalf.

“The libraries are an institution—often like higher ed—that are far left, and they have been a bastion of the left wing,” Sullivan told his fellow NACL members. “They’re the ones holding the drag queen shows. They’re the ones promoting Pride Month. Our county library last year had huge Pride signs and flags and books; this year, they backed that off and had very little because we took their money away.”

“You learn as a legislator really quick, if you want thing to change, take the money,” he added. “I love the libraries. They’re fantastic institutions. They’ve been taken over by the far left, and it’s time for us to take them back.”

“When we come back to session in two years, we’re going to eliminate all the funding for public libraries that have the American Library Association in their policy,” Sullivan vowed. “We’re going to take a shot at them because that’s where it’s coming from.”

This pledge was met with a round of applause from the other NACL attendees.

So, Sullivan is saying that in Arkansas, if libraries aren’t places that practice exclusion, homophobia, and intolerance, they can count on losing state money and almost certainly being put out of business. Unless they treat the LGBTQ community as “less than” and second-class citizens unworthy of the same rights and benefits as REAL Americans, Arkansas won’t fund them.

And isn’t that precisely what Jesus would do, eh? Ensuring White Conservative Christian heterosexuals get a more significant share of the pie and better treatment than those whose only “crime” is living and loving differently?

Drag queens aren’t the problem. Pride Month isn’t the problem. Nor is the American Library Association. Nor are Pride flags or books by LGBTQ authors. The difficulty is easy to identify, though people like Dan Sullivan will never own up to the truth that they are the problem. It’s haters, bigots, and homophobes like Sullivan who believe they’re superior human beings and, as such, have the right to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

Precisely like their flavor of Jesus would do.

So no one can define obscenity, but Dan Sullivan knows what it is, and if you cross his line, THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY. Oh, and if you’re a public library affiliated with the American Library Association, there will also be Hell toupée. Because as any good, red-blooded, patriotic White Conservative Christian heterosexual KNOWS, the ALA is riddled with losers and Liberals hell-bent on corrupting our precious snowflakes.

And they’ll probably start by handing out free buttplugs and vibrators to kids in public libraries.

As for libraries being “taken over by the far left,” as Sullivan alleges, what proof does he have of that? Or does his allegation provide all the proof he needs as far as he’s concerned?

After all, ANY red-blooded, patriotic White Conservative Christian heterosexual American KNOWS that the Libs are closet commies who hate America? And, for all we know, they’re also handing out buttplugs painted with the hammer and sickle.

Libraries typically allow everyone to be who they are and feel accepted. And Dan Sullivan wants to clarify that everyone IS welcome…as long as they’re White Conservative Christian heterosexuals. No public library is going to push the Homosexual Agenda on HIS watch.

So much for the 1st Amendment, but then Sullivan will probably tell you that he’s okay with freedom of speech…just as long as no one uses taxpayer money for drag performances or Pride displays. Or buttplugs with hammers and sickles painted on them (take one for socialism, Comrade!)

It’s too bad that Dan Sullivan is so convinced that his definition of obscenity- whatever that may be- is the one, true, and ONLY definition and that because of his position, he gets to enforce his definition on the entire state of Arkansas. Such arrogance and narrow-mindedness is a sad commentary on the state of government in Arkansas.

When a narrow-minded bigot gets to impose his standard for “obscenity” (or anything else) on an entire state, everyone loses, and those who only want to be left alone to be who they genuinely are lose more than anyone else.

The National Association of Christian Lawmakers is an oxymoron. And Dan “Holier Than Thou” Sullivan shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a public library or the money used to fund them.

Because Sullivan is one of the biggest obscenities in Arkansas.