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The Texas Legislature is taking further steps to censor discussions and materials related to race and gender.
HB 900 or the "Book Banning Act" – A couple weeks ago, the Texas House passed HB 900 which heavily restricts school library books related to LGBTQ+ themes, relationships or any sexual content. The bill would result in books that reflect a range of characters being banned from schools. It also would censor potentially important and informative books for teens and youth coming of age, navigating relationships, or understanding sensitive topics such as domestic violence. This jeopardizes students’ access to information that supports their safety and affirms their identities and experiences.
The Texas Senate passed three censorship-related bills extending from pre-kindergarten through higher education.
SB 8 – The big private school voucher bill includes sweeping bans on discussing gender and sexuality throughout all pre-K through 12th grades. This goes even further than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law by applying a ban to all “instruction, guidance, activities, or programs” in schools. In effect, this eliminates sexual health instruction, English and social studies topics that address women and LGBTQ+ identified figures, and celebrations or events acknowledging gender, sexuality and relationships, including Pride Weeks and perhaps even Valentine’s Day events and Prom celebrations. Read IDRA’s testimony against this censorship voucher bill, and testimony from the Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC) against SB 8.
SB 13 – This bill imposes restrictions on school libraries’ review standards and creates a process for parents to be alerted about any book their student checks out. This is especially damaging for LGBTQ+ students who are not yet “out” or have safety concerns about sharing their identity with their families as they would experience censorship in available materials at school and at home. Read IDRA testimony against SB 13.
All school library and instructional materials already adhere to review standards to ensure content is age-appropriate, educationally valuable and aligned with state learning standards. These bills restrict students’ opportunities to learn important topics related to history, society, and themselves.
SB 17 – This bill extends censorship of race and gender to institutions of higher education by eliminating offices for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). DEI offices encompass racial equity programs that support Black and Latino students’ transitions to college, provide enrichment and extracurricular programs, and offer Title IX supports. They also often support the entire college or university to achieve racial and gender diversity goals in hiring, inclusion of students with disabilities and veteran students, and student groups’ programming. Read TLEEC testimony against SB 17.
DEI offices also operate community engagement or outreach centers to include local communities in university activities, dialogues and initiatives. Provisions in the draft Texas budget would also eliminate funding for programs, activities and initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. SB 16, passed earlier this year by the Senate, censors intellectual freedom of higher education instructors to present a range of topics related to race, sex, gender, or various social, political or religious ideologies. Read TLEEC testimony against SB 16.
Several other censorship related bills are still in process.
HB 1804 censors how the instructional materials approved by the State Board of Education portray race, gender and major historical events.
Another bill, HB 1605, that incentivizes districts to use a state-approved instructional materials list would require compliance with the divisive concepts from last session's censorship bill, SB 3. This would impose a more drastic chilling effect on discussions related to race, gender, and accurate historical and current events information. HB 1605 would incentivize the enforcement of classroom censorship in both teaching and discussions as well as available materials. Other proposals further censor civics education by imposing vague regulations on teaching “positive contributions” and contrasting viewpoints of major historical events, including slavery, the civil rights movement, voting rights movement, and present-day topics related to racial justice.
Take Action!
These measures hurt Texas students’ learning and engagement at all levels of education. Texas students need a bigger and better education. You can stop school censorship by calling your representatives and senators and telling them Texas students need more, not less.
Read more about IDRA’s testimony and advocacy on these bills.
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