Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Monday, November 15, 2021
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• Over the past several weeks, Texans have been shocked to discover pornographic material made available to their children in public school libraries.
   
• Even though parents are fighting back, the response from state leaders has been lagging. 

• On October 27, mothers in Keller Independent School District revealed that one of the local high schools had provided a sexually explicit graphic novel to minors in the school library. The book, entitled “Gender Queer,” features explicit illustrations of adolescents performing various sex acts. The school district responded and removed the book from the library. Texas Scorecard revealed the book was available at districts and schools as well—including in middle school.
   

• Similarly, Leander ISD removed several books from their classrooms because of descriptive passages of overtly sexual and pornographic acts in a book entitled “In the Dream House.”
   

• Soon after, State Rep. Jeff Cason (R–Bedford) called on Attorney General Ken Paxton to “start a statewide investigation into this book and others that may violate the Penal Code in relation to pornography, child pornography, and decency laws, as well as the legal ramifications to school districts that approved of these types of book.”
   

• Weeks later, Cason’s office has yet to receive a response to that request

• On November 1, Gov. Greg Abbott requested that the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), which is a non-governmental entity, take action on the issue, drawing criticism. Cason said, “Asking a politicized TASB is not really going to accomplish much, but it does look good on Twitter.”
   
• On November 3, TASB responded, deflecting and encouraging Abbott to instead place his request in the hands of an actual government entity that reports to him, such as the Texas Education Agency.
   
• On November 8, Abbott responded by submitting a letter to the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath; the chair of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Martha Wong; and the chairman of the Texas State Board of Education, Kevin Ellis.
   
• In the letter, he asked the agency to develop statewide standards to prevent pornographic content from infiltrating public schools. He indicated that the standards they adopt “must ensure transparency about the materials being taught in the classroom and offered in school libraries” and must also ensure “that our schools have an appropriate and transparent process, which includes parents and community members, to vet school and library materials before they are used.”
   
• A few days later, Abbott asked the TEA to “refer any instance of pornography being provided to minors under the age of 18 for prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.”

• But while parents across the state fight to protect their children, the left has predictably excused the material.
   
• Over the weekend, one liberal media outlet even described the pornographic graphic novel “Gender Queer” as a “coming of age novel,”derogatorily deriding the opposition to its placement in school libraries as “largely being driven by white parents.”
   
• Meanwhile, Texas Scorecard has and will continue to expose the presence of pornography in public schools and amplify the voices of those fighting to stop it.

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