Morgantown garnered headlines that it certainly shouldn’t want to see again. Last week, the local library received angry phone calls and threats after some of the public found out that the scheduled story time to children was going to be led by drag queens. Historically, most drag queens have been men dressing as women.
The book that was going to be read was “Green Eggs and Ham.” Nothing very sinister there. So the objection by the complainers was about who was doing the reading.
We should be thankful that people take time to read to our children. And we imagine that those who were scheduled to read would have done so in a very theatrical manner that would have entertained the kids.
Much in the way that actors, for generations, have done in film.
Probably, those who called never saw movies like Mrs. Doubtfire, with the late Robin Williams playing a matronly grandmother-type so he/she could be nanny for his kids, who were living with his/her ex-wife and new husband.
Dustin Hoffman, in Tootsie, took to wearing women’s wear to succeed in the entertainment industry; and long before that, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon put on the hose and heels to join an all-female band with Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like it Hot.”
And who can forget comedian Flip Wilson and his character, Geraldine, bold and brash and opinionated, making appearances on Wilson’s variety show on primetime TV back in the much-more era of the 70s.
To those who called in to complain or threaten, watch those shows or movies and you’ll will see that you overreacted. Let the kids be read to and have some fun at the same time.
Also this week, city employees were videoed breaking up a camp below the South High Street bridge that was occupied by homeless people. Granted, the campers were forewarned about the eviction more than once. But telling homeless persons “they must move on” begs the question: Where?
If they had a place to go, they wouldn’t have been living in make-shift quarters in the first place. Many of these people have life issues, especially mental health problems. Everyone agreed at Tuesday night’s city council meeting that this problem is “recurring” and has been “going on for years.”
So why not work to solve the problem? The workers’ tax the city implemented a while back has been used to pave roads in our city. The city can’t touch the state routes that run through our town, but can do the ones in the local neighborhoods. What if we could divert those funds to seeking a solution to homelessness? What if there was a levy that would go to shelters rather than picnic pavilions?
We call on city council and others to begin a plan to help those citizens who are most vulnerable in our community.
