South Carolina lawmakers voted on Wednesday to cut funding from two public colleges that assigned books to freshmen students about same-sex relationships.
According to
The Washington Post, members in the state House of Representatives cut $17,000 in funding from the University of South Carolina Upstate for assigning "Out Loud: The Best of Rainbow Radio."
The panel also cut $52,000 from the College of Charleston's budget for assigning "Fun Home," a graphic autobiography about a young woman growing up in rural Pennsylvania.
The funding cuts are equivalent to the money the two universities spent purchasing the books.
"One of the things I learned over the years is that if you want to make a point, you have to make it hurt," GOP state Rep. Garry Smith, who pushed for the cuts, told
The State newspaper.
"I understand academic freedom, but this is not academic freedom… This was about promoting one side with no academic debate involved."
Several state senators have also complained that public universities are not following a nearly century-old law requiring schools to teach the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, according to the Post.
Democrats opposed the cuts, saying it is not the place of legislators to get involved in academic affairs and those who want to manage a university's reading list should run for positions on the state Board of Trustees.
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