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Singapore halts destruction of gay-themed children's books

Singapore yesterday stopped its national library from destroying two children's books with gay themes following an outcry over literary censorship in city-state.

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Parents and children stage their reading protest. Photo: Xinhua

Singapore yesterday stopped its national library from destroying two children's books with gay themes following an outcry over literary censorship in city-state.

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Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim ordered the books moved to the adult section, where parents can borrow them for their children, after another title had already been pulped by the National Library Board.

"We stand by NLB's decision to remove the three books from the children's section," Yaacob said on Facebook, adding that the board "will continue to ensure that books in the children's section are age-appropriate".

Singapore has separately banned a volume of the long-running US comics series because its depiction of a marriage between two men was deemed to breach local "social norms".

Government officials claim that most Singaporeans are conservative and do not accept homosexuality.

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The two books to be moved to the adult section of public libraries are - a true story about two male penguins in a New York zoo that raised a baby penguin - and , which features children adopted by straight, gay, mixed-race and single parents.

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