Let the record show that Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) used the words “dildo,” “cock,” and “strap-on” at a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The awkward viral moment occurred as the 71-year-old legislator was grilling Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias about his state’s so-called anti-book ban law, which seeks to deter censorship in public schools and libraries. Apparently under the belief that mortifying the hearing was the best way to challenge Giannoulias, Kennedy pulled out a passage from All Boys Aren’t Blue, a “memoir-manifesto” by Black queer writer George M. Johnson. Kennedy read flatly, in part: “I put some lube on and got him on his knees, and I began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated.” After reading aloud another explicit passage from Gender Queer, another book facing bans in libraries across the country, Kennedy asked Giannoulias if he believed “only librarians” should have the power to decide whether both books should be available to kids. “With all due respect, Senator, the words you spoke are disturbing, especially coming out of your mouth, it’s very disturbing,” Giannoulias replied. “But I would also tell you that we’re not advocating for kids to read porn.”
