Texans concerned about kids’ exposure to adult content are urging Gov. Greg Abbott to fast-track new legislation designed to protect children from sexually explicit material.
Llano County parent and conservative activist Bonnie Wallace is gathering signatures on a letter asking Abbott to designate “Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids” as an “emergency” item.
The move would allow state lawmakers to consider the issue—which is a Texas GOP legislative priority—as soon as the session starts on January 14.
Ordinarily, lawmakers cannot begin debating proposed legislation during the first 60 days of a session.
“We made progress in the 88th Legislature with HB900, yet schools throughout Texas are ignoring this law, and very harmful content remains on library shelves,” Wallace states in her letter to Abbott dated January 2, which she plans to send during the first week of the new year.
You said, “If a book cannot be read out loud at a school board meeting in Texas then there is no reason for Texas children in school to be able to read it.” Amen, Governor!!
House Bill 900 set new school library standards that prohibit sexually explicit and educationally unsuitable material in students’ libraries. However, many school districts are not complying with—or are misapplying—the law.
Wallace’s letter identifies several “loopholes” in the state’s indecency laws, including in the definition of harmful material and the affirmative defenses to displaying, distributing, or selling harmful materials.
“Texas must close these loopholes,” the letter states.
One loophole-closing measure recently endorsed by Wallace is Senate Bill 88 by State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), which would eliminate the requirement that a book’s “dominant theme taken as a whole” must be considered offensive in order for the book to be defined as harmful.
“Pornographic content is like poison to the mind,” Wallace said. “Any amount of poison should be rejected so we can protect our Texas children.”
Wallace has traveled the state raising awareness about explicit materials available to children in taxpayer-funded school and public libraries.
As a member of the Llano County Library Advisory Board, Wallace was sued in 2022 for moving books from the children’s to the adult section of the library.
In June of this year, a federal appeals court ordered several of the moved books returned—including a book about Jazz Jennings, a boy whose sterilizing medical procedures to look like a girl have been featured in a “reality TV” show since 2015.
Wallace has also challenged numerous books in her own local libraries, including in the school her daughter attended until graduating. But earlier this year, Llano Independent School District changed its book review policy to only allow challenges from parents of current students, blocking book challenges from Wallace.
Wallace’s letter advises Abbott that parents across Texas are “organizing and coordinating efforts to protect children within our school districts, cities, and counties, but legislative solutions that eliminate this material in every library in Texas are needed, as local policy is failing to address the problem.”
Her letter concludes, “We respectfully request that you designate legislation to stop the sexualization of Texas children, including ridding schools of sexually explicit and pervasively vulgar materials and repealing the Affirmative Defenses, as an Emergency Item of the Governor’s office so the legislature can immediately get to work to protect children.”
Wallace told Texas Scorecard the letter has already been signed by thousands of supporters in 218 Texas counties.
“Praise God,” she said. “Texans recognize the importance of protecting a child’s innocence, which can only be lost once, and are banding together to effect change!”
Grassroots advocacy group Citizens Defending Freedom is helping Wallace spread the word about the “shocking” content Texas children have access to, financed by taxpayers.
CDF is also helping collect signatures on the letter.
Texans who want to join them can add their names before January 2.
