Following years of parent advocates pressing lawmakers for solutions to protect children from age-inappropriate content, lawmakers responded with action in a few key areas.
Parental Rights
Introduced by State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), Senate Bill 12 compels public schools to inform parents of their rights under the law, explicitly outlawing any infringement of a parent’s rights. It also establishes transparency by giving parents access to their children’s medical records, teaching materials, and health-related services.
Addressing concerns of parents, schools are now required to have parents sign off on any psychological examination or sex education. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) materials, as well as gender orientation and sexual identity instruction, are banned from the classroom.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick commented on the bill’s passage, “I prioritized SB 12 because parents must be empowered to have an even greater role in their children’s education. With more parental input and empowerment, Texas students will be better served by the public education system.”
The bill further adopts measures and timelines for the redressal of grievances, while protecting parents. Moreover, SB 12 mandates schools to create plans for parental engagement and educational policies.
Library Books
Passed in 2023, House Bill 900 was aimed at removing pornographic and age-inappropriate materials from libraries, but the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the book-rating provision of the R.E.A.D.E.R. Act violated the First Amendment. In addition to legal controversy, the vague construction of that bill lent itself to poor enforcement.
Thus, Texas parents continued to raise complaints with legislators over explicit content in certain school library books.
Filed by State Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney), Senate Bill 13 defines “harmful material,” “indecent content,” and “profane content,” which establishes criteria to determine the appropriacy of literature for young audiences.
Most importantly, the bill creates a library advisory board consisting of parents, who moderate the content of library books accessible to children. Furthermore, libraries must comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act.
Another measure dealing with libraries was State Rep. Terri Leo Wilson’s House Bill 100 (R–Galveston), which prohibits taxpayer-funded schools from purchasing books that are banned by the State Board of Education and any books containing obscene content.
However, a proposal meant to extend protections for children from school libraries to municipal libraries, House Bill 3225 by State Rep. Daniel Alders (R–Tyler), failed to pass the Senate in the final days of session.
Obscenity
One impact on municipal libraries is State Sen. Mayes Middleton’s (R–Galveston) Senate Bill 412, which narrows a broad exemption in Texas law that currently shields school officials, librarians, and others from prosecution for distributing material deemed harmful to minors, as long as it is for an “educational purpose.”
The first GOP priority bill to reach the governor, SB 412, makes it so that only law enforcement and judicial officers may use such a defense when charged under obscenity laws.
In addition to the legislation regulating the content of library books, State Sen. Pete Flores (R–Pleasanton) introduced Senate Bill 20 to crack down on artificial intelligence-generated child pornography.
Patrick announced SB 20 as one of his 40 legislative priorities, stating, “I named SB 20 as a priority because Texas law must do more to eliminate all types of child pornography and stop the crimes that result from it.”
While these measures certainly improve protections for children, other measures that did not pass this session will likely be refiled next session.
For instance, Senate Bill 18 by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) would have ended drag queen story time at public libraries across the state of Texas.
It was placed on the House calendar for a floor vote at the end of May but did not receive a vote in time, despite being passed by the Senate in March.
Brady Gray of Texas Family Project expressed his frustration with the outcome to Texas Scorecard previously: “Despite overwhelming grassroots support, House leadership allowed the clock to run out on a bill that would have protected kids and held public institutions accountable. This wasn’t about process. It was about priorities—and clearly, protecting children didn’t make the cut.”
House Bill 1549 by State Rep. Hillary Hickland (R–Belton), the Retail Decency Act, sought to restrict the display and marketing of sexually explicit adult products in retail environments accessible to children. However, it never received a hearing in the Texas House.
House Bill 54, which would have established behavioral guidelines for children in public schools, also failed to move out of committee in the House. Similar to establishing a workplace environment conducive to business, HB 54 would have banned distracting, non-human behaviors. Specifically, the bill targets kids who identify and act as animals in school settings, otherwise known as “furries.”
While several pieces of legislation to uphold parental rights and protect children passed, advocates say they will continue the fight to protect children when the Legislature convenes again.
