GOP Sen. John Kennedy Reads Queer Sex Excerpts at Cringe-Worthy Senate Hearing

A Republican U.S. Senator who represents Louisiana went viral Tuesday after he read several lines from two books that right-wing activists have targeted during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Republicans around the nation have claimed they are inappropriate for young people and demand they be taken out of schools and public libraries.

Sen. John Kennedy addressed Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias during a hearing entitled “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature.” Giannoulias backed legislation earlier this year that would have held funding from libraries that didn't follow the guidelines of the American Library Association.

As Republicans across the country have promoted the banning of books, primarily those with LGBTQ+ themes or by LGBTQ+ authors, Illinois recently passed a law prohibiting the banning of books.

Some conservative library systems in the country have banned the books All Boys Aren’t Blue and Gender Queer, of which Kennedy read aloud passages to Giannoulias.

“I confess I’m a little confused, and I appreciate the argument that we’ve, our discussion that we’ve been having,” Kennedy, who has degrees from Vanderbilt University, the University of Virginia, and Oxford, said, claiming he needed help understanding the issue. “But for me, it’s a little too conceptual or, I don’t know, metaphysical or geological or whatever you want to call it. I want to try to understand what you’re asking us to do.”

He then began quoting from All Boys Aren’t Blue.

“I put some lube on and got him on his knees,” the 71-year-old lawmaker said. “And I began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated. He asked me to turn over while he slipped a condom on himself. This was my ass, and I was struggling to imagine someone inside me. He got on top and slowly inserted himself into me. It was the worst pain I think I have ever felt in my life. Eventually, I felt a mix of pleasure with the pain.”

Kennedy continued, next quoting from Gender Queer.

“I got a new strap-on harness today. I can’t wait to put it on you,” Kennedy said. “It will fit my favorite dildo perfectly. You’re going to look so hot. I can’t wait to have your cock in my mouth. I’m going to give you the blowjob of your life. Then I want you inside of me.”

Giannoulias pushed back against Kennedy’s attempt to paint the books as pornographic through his performance.

“With all due respect, Senator, the words you spoke are disturbing, especially coming out of your mouth [it's] very disturbing,” the secretary responded, prompting smiles and chuckles from some of the people sitting in the audience.

Giannoulias added: “But I would also tell you that we’re not advocating for kids to read porn.”

“We are advocating for parents, random parents, not to have the ability under the guise of keeping kids safe to try and challenge the worldview of every single manner on these issues,” Giannoulias explained. “When individual parents are allowed to make a decision of where that line is and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ which involves a rape scene, should that book be pulled from our libraries? I think it becomes a slippery slope.”

The secretary continued: “We are advocating for parents, random parents, not to have the ability, under the guise of keeping kids safe, to try and challenge the worldview of every single manner on these issues.”

Members of the committee agreed that some texts were a bit graphic for some readers. However, there wasn't consisncy in who should monitor these books.

“These school districts are acting in response to legitimate parental concerns. They should be removing these,” GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said. “Shame on them if they don’t and shame on those who want to groom children sexually.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and chairman of the committee, took Lee to task, replying that no one is “advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in [the] children’s section of the library.”

Durbin concluded the hearing when Kennedy said, “I’ve got some more books I can read!”

Without missing a beat, Durbin replied, “I’m sure you do!”