SC senators vote to punish College of Charleston for assigning gay-themed books

COLUMBIA, SC (AP) - South Carolina senators have voted to punish two public colleges for assigning gay-themed books by forcing them to spend money on teaching the nation's founding documents.

The Senate voted Tuesday to require the College of Charleston to spend $52,000 and the University of South Carolina Upstate to spend $17,000 on teaching the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. Those amounts correspond with what the colleges say they spent on books dealing with homosexuality that were assigned for a freshmen reading program.

Senators took a voice vote on the compromise following days of debate. The proposal initially cut those amounts from the universities' budgets.

Republicans supporting the cuts called the books pornographic. Opponents argue legislators should not micromanage and censor colleges' book lists.

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