Greg Abbott Calls on TX School Boards to Remove Books With ‘Obscene Material’

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The governor of Texas wants public school libraries to remove inappropriate books, claiming kids are being exposed to “pornographic images” and other “obscene material.”

Greg Abbott sent a letter to the head of the Texas Association of School Boards saying there are “extremely inappropriate” books in public school libraries. He does not list any examples, but says he’s heard from parents who are “increasingly alarmed” about these books.

“Parents have the right to shield their children from obscene content used in schools their children attend. They are right that Texas public schools should not provide or promote pornographic or obscene material to students,” he wrote.

“Collectively, your organization’s members have an obligation,” Abbott continued, “to determine the extent to which such materials exist or are used in our schools and to remove any such content.”

Texas State Rep. Matt Krause recently launched an investigation on books in schools dealing with issues like racism or sexuality. He put out a list of 850 books he wanted to question schools on.

That list includes books about Black Lives Matter and books with LGBTQ representation or themes.

The Dallas Morning News reported that “of the first 100 titles listed, 97 were written by women, people of color or LGBTQ authors.”

There was some recent controversy over the book Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. CBS DFW reported that a copy of the book — which contains “sexually explicit cartoons with captions” — was removed from a school after some online backlash.

“One copy of the book in question was once available at a single high school library. There was no indication from the book’s description that it contained graphic illustrations; however, once the librarian and campus administrators became aware of the images, they immediately removed the book,” the school said.

The Texas Association of School Boards responded to Abbott Monday night and said, “We are confused… as to why this letter was sent to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), which has no regulatory authority over school districts and does not set the standards for instructional materials, including library books.”

After @GovAbbott sent a letter to TASB regarding school books, TASB has already shared a response:

“We are confused as to why this letter was sent to TASB which has no regulatory authority over school districts and does not set the standards for instructional materials”
(@wfaa) https://t.co/iC59rJ7n60 pic.twitter.com/ljvp2ZkAFZ

— William Joy (@WilliamJoy) November 1, 2021

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