7 /10 1 Votes7
Publication date 1991 ISBN 1-55583-118-4 Originally published 1991 Page count 30 Genre Children's literature | 3.5/5 Pages 30 OCLC 26563465 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Awards Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Small Press Book Award Similar Michael Willhoite books, Homosexuality books, Children's literature |
Banned books week virtual read out 2012 daddy s roommate by michael willhoite
Daddy's Roommate is a children's book written by Michael Willhoite and published by Alyson Books in 1991 (ISBN 1555831184). The book, about a young boy whose divorced father now lives with his life partner, deals with the subject of homosexual parents.
Daddy's Roommate was one of the first children's books to portray homosexuality in a positive light; the two men in the book do the same things heterosexual couples do: Take care of the house, argue, and spend time with their child. Consequently, the book has become one of the most challenged books in recent years with the American Library Association listing it at number 2 in their list of the 100 most challenged books from 1990-1999. Lon Mabon launched an anti-gay campaign attempting to amend the Oregon state constitution to allow discrimination against lesbians and gay men. He used Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate as evidence of a militant homosexual agenda. However, citizens of Oregon voted on November 3, 1992, and the measure was defeated. Despite its challenges, this book won a Lambda Literary Analysis book award under the Gay Men's Small Press category.
Daddy's Roommate became a point of discussion in the 2008 US Presidential Election when it was alleged that, in 1995, Sarah Palin, then a councilwoman in Wasilla, Alaska, complained that the book did not belong in the public library.