It isn’t a surprise to many, but it would seem Texas is taking its book bans to a whole other level with a brand-new bill in the Texas Legislature that would allow businesses to be held liable if a minor reports damages from a work deemed “obscene.” In addition to the fees for damages, the penalties would include court costs and attorneys’ fees. This follows up from another bill which was introduced a month ago that is aimed at municipal public libraries from allowing anyone under 18 to access “sexually explicit” materials. If that law were to pass, libraries that do not comply may lose funding and face up to a $10,000 fine per violation.
The author of the bill, Texas Rep. Nate Schatzline (Republican) introduced House Bill 1375, which states that each “occurrence of obscenity that harms a person, regardless of whether the occurrence is part of a pattern of conduct, gives rise to a separate claim for civil liability.” What does that mean? It means that bookstores that sell works deemed “obscene” could face multiple lawsuits. This led to a response from the Texas Freedom to Read Project, which was shared on Twitter. “That’s an infringement on our liberty, on our freedom as parents, as Texans – and one that we’ve been repeatedly assured we have,” said Anne Russey, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project.
It’s a continued effort from GOP Lawmakers that has been considered a gut punch to Pro-Book advocates and Parents, who were assured that they could still purchase any books they wanted even as titles were removed from schools and libraries. This could even affect Independent Bookstores, which could face frivolous lawsuits or damage their reputations. Parents and advocates say that the vagueness of the bill could impact booksellers’ ability to shelve literary works. Book Bans and laws like HB 1375 have often targeted literary classics such as Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” and targeted books that often discussed race and racism, books that feature or focus on LGBTQIA+ Characters.
RELATED: A New Study Reveals Texas Is Ranked 3rd In The United States In Book Bans
The line between what is considered obscene and what IS obscene is blurry at best because a lot of works are caught up in what has been considered to be an obscenity ban. A perfect example of this was what happened at the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (LCISD)’s database, which covers the areas of Richmond, Rosenberg, and Sugar Land, which removed the Virginia State Flag from their database for the most ridiculous reason, The state flag contained an image of the Roman goddess Virtus, with her breast hanging out of a cloth. “No material in elementary school libraries shall include visual depictions or illustrations of frontal nudity, sexual acts or stimulations of such acts implied or otherwise.”
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These “Obscenity Bans” have gotten out of hand to the point where even Art Museums are being targeted with a bill that puts Art Museums at risk of facing obscenity fines after authorities confiscated photographs in a museum in Fort Worth that featured the artist’s children nude. With Texas introducing laws such as these that can harm artistic freedom, infringing on literary rights, or someone’s academic rights, it’s no surprise why the state is ranked 49 out of 51 states in Education.
Source: CHRON
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