“Grooming” is a term that has been used to describe when a sexual predator attempts to establish a relationship with a child in order to take advantage of them. There is usually a point in the grooming process when the predator provides explicit or age-inappropriate information.
Today, in the wake of LGBT normalization, there is an alarming effort across the nation to expose children to sexual material beyond the basics of sex education.
In Texas, a school is legally required to obtain written consent from a child’s parents before the child can be taught any sort of sex ed. However, Austin Independent School District has held school-wide gay pride parades and class discussions about “nonconforming” sexualities (which they instructed the children to keep from their parents). Multiple elementary school libraries across Texas have even provided students with pornographic books explicitly depicting homosexual encounters.
In Dallas, a highly publicized protest against a “child-friendly” drag show prompted State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R–Royse City) to announce that he will be filing legislation to ban drag shows in the presence of minors at the beginning of the next legislative session.
Florida, on the other hand, has already taken serious measures to prevent the sexualization of children. Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, signed into law earlier this year, is the first of its kind in the nation to curb nationwide grooming efforts within Florida’s boundaries. The bill bans discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity until the third grade, and it supports parents by granting them the option to sue school districts for violations of this law. Florida’s bill on this issue is the first step in undoing what many parents have decried as major damage done to their children.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he will consider legislation to ban drag shows for children as well.
Texas has made many related attempts to curb grooming efforts, but elements within the Republican-controlled Legislature have blocked bills that take initiative against the sexual abuse of children.
For example, multiple bills seeking to end the practice of child gender mutilation were filed in the Texas Legislature and even passed through the Texas Senate. Despite that, however, Speaker Dade Phelan and State Rep. Stephanie Klick (R–Richland Hills) worked to kill the legislation, and it was never given a vote in the House.
With the Republican Party of Texas’ biennial convention slated to take place in Houston next week, it is expected that the Texas GOP will face widespread pressure from grassroots activists to act on this issue. What remains to be seen is whether Republican members of the Texas House will respond to their own party’s activists.
