The Texas Board of Education voted 13-1 to prohibit sexually explicit books from school libraries.
A Republican member of the committee, Audrey Young, told Dallas Morning News, “It was a work of deep value and importance to bring the library standards to fruition. In Texas, parents have been identifying this issue to schools without the necessary support of law.”
State Representative Jared Patterson (R) wrote in a letter to board members that the “work before you is critically important,” adding, “The materials I personally fought are outrageous and so explicit in nature that news programs could not even show the images on screen or read the passages over the radio due to FCC standards.”
The new guidelines passed by the Texas Board of Education recognize that “parents are the primary decision makers regarding their student’s access to library material;” prohibit the “possession, acquisition, and purchase of harmful material” such as “sexually explicit material;” and understand that “obscene content is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
While Texas has prohibited sexually explicit books, a Virginia school board member was sworn in on LGBT literature.
American Faith reported that instead of the Bible, Karl Frische placed his hand on books such as “Lawn Boy,” Gender Queer,” The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” and “Flamer.”
“Last night, Fairfax County School Board Member Karl Frisch (Providence District) took the Oath of Office for his second term. He was sworn in on a stack of the five LGBTQ-themed books most frequently banned by other school systems,” Frische’s campaign website stated. “Currently the Board’s Vice Chair, Frisch becomes its Chair on January 1. He is the first LGBTQ+ person elected to local office in Virginia’s largest county and one of only four openly LGBTQ+ school board members in the Commonwealth out of roughly 800 members.”
