Booksellers Move to the Front Lines of the Fight Against Book Bans in Texas
In the past two years, book bans have surged in the United States, driven by conservative activists who have targeted books about race and racism or L.G.B.T.Q. issues and characters. An array of new laws have passed around the country, making it easier to remove books from libraries and placing new restrictions on the types of titles children can access.
While the fight has largely centered on books that are available in school classrooms and libraries, the legislation in Texas has drawn booksellers directly into the conflict.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the bill into law in June, championed it as a way for parents to exercise more control over the books available to their children. “Some school libraries have books with sexually explicit and vulgar materials,” he said during the bill signing session. “I’m signing a law that gets that trash out of our schools.”
Many of the restrictions on books available in schools and libraries have been promoted under the banner of giving parents more choice over the content their children encounter. But the plaintiffs said that the Texas law would take decisions out of the hands of schools and parents and put the burden on vendors instead.
The law’s opponents also argue the legislation will increase the number of book bans in Texas, which already leads the country in removing books from schools, according to an analysis by the free speech organization PEN America.
Source: The New York Times
