
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994                   TAG: 9411040074
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

`ROOMMATE' DEBATE CONTINUES

The debate over "Daddy's Roommate," a controversial children's book that tells the story of a young boy visiting his divorced father and his father's gay lover, isn't finished yet.

The Montgomery County Council on Human Relations will sponsor a panel discussion on the issue at 7 p.m. Monday in the Falling Branch Elementary School cafeteria.

Karen Dillon, director of of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library, Nita McNerlin, the Blacksburg mother who wants to segregate the book from other children's reading, and a representative from the office of the Montgomery County commonwealth's attorney will be on the panel.

In April, the Library Board voted 5-3 to keep "Daddy's Roommate" in the children's section of the library. Over the summer, McNerlin gathered more than 900 signatures on a petition and called for the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors to deny tax money to the Library Board until it agreed to move the book to a special section. The supervisors took no action on the request.

Randy Wertz, a member of the council, which has not taken a position itself, said its members thought citizens needed another opportunity to learn about the subject.

"We have heard that the issue is going to come up again during the next budget session," said Wertz, who is also deputy assistant county administrator. If that happens, he said, the council would rather citizens be informed on the topic, rather than emotionally barrage supervisors this winter. "We just think that everybody needs to have all the information."

McNerlin debated the issue with Dillon and Library Board Chairwoman Nancy Hurst on a television show last month. She argued against the book on the grounds that the sexual acts associated with homosexuality are illegal. Although the book does not picture sexual acts, Wertz said the representative of the commonwealth's attorney would be at the forum to address the issue if it arose.

by CNB