More than two dozen Republicans have signed a letter to school superintendents across Texas, asking them to stop working with book vendors who provide "pornographic materials." The letter was written by State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco).
"Recently, the book Gender Queer, which graphically illustrates child pornography, was regrettably found to be in multiple Texas public school libraries," the letter opens. "Sadly, we don't know how many children across Texas have been exposed to this obscene material, or others like it."
Gender Queer: A Memoir is written by Maia Kobabe and is described by the publisher as " more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere."
The letter was signed by Patterson and 26 other Republicans. The letter says districts and the state legislature will "be working diligently" to prevent similar books in the future but asks superintendents to sign a pledge not to work with vendors who have supplied "pornographic materials to schools, nor allow pornographic materials to remain on campus."
"We also acknowledge school districts have a lot of power in the market when purchasing books and that if we stand together against explicit materials for children, book vendors will be forced to adjust," the letter reads.
The group, Pastors for Children, responded, saying "this letter should—and will—be ignored by superintendents."
The organization says Texas has "lengthy and thorough processes in place to protect children," writing that 15 of the 21 legislators who signed the letter support private school vouchers.
"They hate public schools and want to destroy them," the organization writes.
Texas AFT and the group, Voters of Tomorrow Texas, are planning a march outside the Texas Capitol a week from Saturday.
"From huge surges in book banning to bills designed to stifle the teaching of history and destroy civic engagement in schools, we are facing an aggressive attempt to stop the conversations that matter most to an inclusive, just United States," Voters of Tomorrow Texas wrote in a statement.
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