Texas State Board of Education wants power to ban ‘sexually explicit’ books from public school libraries

A new bill would give the State Board of Education the power to ban books from Texas public schools that board members deem sexually explicit.

The idea would revive a portion of a state law, known as the READER Act, that required bookstores to review and rate the sexual content of all titles sold to public schools but was struck down by federal courts as unconstitutional. 

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State Rep. Jared Patterson, a Frisco Republican, filed the bill ahead of the Legislature’s next session in January. At their November meetings, a majority of the Republican-controlled state board voted to endorse this new policy.

The proposal, if passed by the GOP-led Legislature and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, could give the board sweeping new power over what children can find in their public school libraries as Republicans have ramped up efforts in recent years to take certain titles off the shelves.

Last year, a federal court said requirements for private booksellers to enforce the READER Act violated their freedom of speech and would be too costly for the businesses to comply.

Some of the 2023 law was allowed to take effect, including a section that empowered the state board to draft new library standards, which the board used to instruct school districts not to stock sexually explicit books. 

Currently, it’s up to school districts to comply with those standards. But under the new bill, parents could ask the state board to review certain titles, and if the board decided they were "sexually explicit," the books would have to be pulled from shelves statewide.

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The board, which is composed of 15 elected officials from around the state, has long been majority-Republican. But in recent years — with the election of hard-right members boosted by large donors in the state — it has grown even more conservative and active in its stance toward controlling books and lesson plans in Texas public schools. 

Democrats on the board spoke out against the idea in November, saying the change would invite a mountain of new work for the unpaid board members and decisions about filling library shelves should be made by local school boards. 

Books have emerged as a flash point in recent years as Republican legislators and parent groups have rallied to take certain titles off the shelves, including many exploring LGBTQ themes — such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” a graphic novel that inspired Patterson’s bill in the first place. 

Lawmakers, bookstores and publishing groups have warned that the state’s definition of “sexually explicit” is too vague and could be interpreted to encompass classical or foundational works of literature, including the Bible, Shakespeare’s plays or “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry.