(Texas Scorecard) – A new measure targeting children’s access to sexually explicit materials in schools has been filed just ahead of the legislature’s filing deadline.
The proposal, House Bill 5021 by State Rep. Andy Hopper (R–Decatur), would prohibit public schools from purchasing or possessing any books listed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s register of books prohibited to prisoners.
The measure was drafted by conservative activist Bonnie Wallace—who has long been outspoken against schools making graphic content available for children.
“I am on a mission to protect Texas children, and I would have never guessed all the people who would be against this mission,” Wallace told Texas Scorecard. “My question to school boards, superintendents, principals, teachers, and librarians all across Texas is ‘Why are the minds of hardened criminals better protected in Texas than the minds of our innocent children in Texas schools?’”
“All across Texas, people in positions of authority MUST stop cowering in fear and must DO SOMETHING to protect children from this insipid and dark content,” she continued.
Wallace has compiled a list of excerpts from books that are currently banned for prisoners but accessible to Texas school children. One of them is called Push, written by an author named Ramona Lofton, also known as Sapphire.
Warning: Explicit Content
Page 20 of the book reportedly reads “She look at me like I said I wanna s**k a dog’s d**k or some s**t.”
Page 21 reads “Mrs. Lichenstein look at me like I got three arms or a bad odor out my p***y or something.”
Another book, containing quotes that are just as graphic, is called DIME, written by E.R. Frank. Page 70 goes into detail about a sexual encounter between a grown man and a 13-year-old girl.
Stopping the sexualization of children is a priority of the Republican Party of Texas this session.