"WASHINGTON, March 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Illinois, had assigned the pornographic book "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" to students as required reading. When a group of outraged parents found out, they filed a formal complaint. Now the book has been changed to an "optional title," meaning kids may still select the book for peer study under the direction of a teacher.

The book is replete with profanity, overt racism through multiple uses of the N-word, an explicit description of a sex act involving Mother Theresa and some of the most graphic, vile and vivid depictions of homosexual anal sodomy every put in print."

The above is an link of a ludicrous conservative article that wouldn't know good literature if it bit them on their pompous ass.

Angels in America came before RENT!, before modern TV series depicting gays in a positive light, and was written during the Reagan era when the AIDS issue was being blatantly ignored. It is a commentary on what it was to be gay with or without AIDS in 1985 and it is a major part of literature. It is historical, raw, magical portrayal of very conflicted and deep characters.

I hate literary censorship in general, but calling Angels "porn" is outrageous. Are there parts that the average person would consider vulgar? Well definitely. There are sex scenes, swearing, and racial and sexual slurs, but it's NO WORSE THAN WHAT YOUR KIDS WATCH ON TV OR THE MOVIES!

I had to read God of Small Things in MY English class in which there is a graphic scene of an adult male molesting a young boy. EVERYONE in my class handled it maturely and commented about how it effected the boy as a character, and in relation to the rest of the novel. It's significance to the plot, and his relationship with his twin sister, etc.

I read Angels in college and it was one of the most interesting pieces we had to read (among them: Death of a Salesman, A Doll's House and Explanation for Foreigners).

MY question is (and feel free to click on the link to the explicit scenes to see for yourself) do you feel this is appropriate for high schoolers to read? My opinion is obvious... But what do you guys think? Please don't be intimidated by me. I'm just ranting.

EDIT: If this intrigues you, I posted the full Angels in America HBO miniseries in the link