PLEASE SIGN ON TO LETTER TO GOVERNOR ABBOTT TO STOP SEXUALIZING TEXAS KIDS! Our friend, Bonnie Wallace, from Llano is collecting signatures on a letter to Governor Abbott, asking him to make RPT priority “Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids” an emergency item for the 89th legislature. Doing so would mean that bills pertaining to this subject could be heard and acted on prior to the filing deadline of March 14. We often see bills die in one place or another due to the calendar restraints of the system. Bills that can only be acted on in the last half of the short session sometimes just don’t make it through the system. Bonnie is a well-known grassroots activists who has spent years trying to protect kids by getting dirty books out of libraries. If you agree that this issue is a top priority for Texas, please join Bonnie (and me) in adding your name to her letter. She hopes to send the letter the first week in January. She would like to collect 10,000 signatures, representing all 254 counties in Texas. Instructions: If you want to add your name, email Bonnie at [email protected]
- Subject Line: Letter to Governor Abbott
- Body of Message: give your name, and your county. Example: Please add my name to your letter to the Governor. Fran Rhodes, Tarrant County
- If you are a precinct chair, include your precinct # and county. Example: Fran Rhodes, Tarrant County #3647.
- If you are a leader of a grassroots organization, you may include your organization name and title. Example: Fran Rhodes, President, True Texas Project.
THE LETTER:
January 2, 2025 The Honorable Greg Abbott Governor of Texas 1100 Congress Avenue Austin, Texas 78701 We are so grateful that Texas has remained red and increased in conservative representation over the last few years. We are also appreciative of your efforts in governing our state. We made progress in the 88th Legislature with HB900, yet schools throughout Texas are ignoring this law, and very harmful content remains on library shelves. You re-tweeted a video of me reading porn to Brownsville ISD, where my testimony was called “profane”. You said, “If a book cannot be read out loud at a school board meeting in Texas then there is no reason for Texas children in school to be able to read it.” Amen, Governor!! One solution that the Republican Party of Texas has identified and included in its legislative priority “Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids” requires significant changes to Texas’ indecency laws. Currently, Chapter 43 of Texas Penal Code allows for pornographic content to be in schools and libraries designated for children because of several loopholes, including those in the definition of harmful materials and the affirmative defenses to displaying, distributing, or selling harmful materials in 43.24. Texas’ current definition of harmful materials allows pornography to be in a material as long as the theme as a whole does not meet prurient interests and as long as it has literary or artistic value. Texas allows for affirmative defenses in 43.24, allowing educators and librarians to display, distribute, or sell pornography to children for educational reasons. Just this year, Lovejoy ISD attorneys argued the district has a right to keep porn on their library shelves because of the affirmative defenses currently provided in the Texas Penal Code. Texas must close these loopholes. It would also be helpful if you instructed Commissioner Morath to send out simple bullet points advising ISDs of what they are allowed to do to battle inappropriate content. ISDs do not understand that TASB is not a government agency and feel obligated to implement TASB’s misguided “suggestions” such as removing residents’ ability to challenge material if they have no students in the district, leaving harmful books on shelves during the duration of the book challenge process and waiting to audit their libraries until litigation concludes. Each of the (number) signers of this letter, from (number) Texas counties, is currently fighting to eliminate this filth in our communities. We are organizing and coordinating efforts to protect children within our school districts, cities, and counties, but legislative solutions that eliminate this material in every library in Texas are needed, as local policy is failing to address the problem. We respectfully request that you designate legislation to stop the sexualization of Texas children, including ridding schools of sexually explicit and pervasively vulgar materials and repealing the Affirmative Defenses, as an Emergency Item of the Governor’s office so the legislature can immediately get to work to protect children. The state has a compelling interest to intervene and protect Texas kids! Respectfully, Bonnie N Wallace – Llano County cc: Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General Incoming Texas 89th Legislature This is a simple and quick action item that can have wide ranging impact for Texas kids and Texas families. Please participate! All it takes is an email to Bonnie with your name and county. Everyone can do that. TTP will be working with Bonnie and others next year to pass meaningful legislation that will protect the children of Texas. I hope you will join us in that effort. Stay Engaged! Fran Rhodes, President |
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