Conroe ISD is on the verge of updating their current book ban, with a specific emphasis on books regarded as ‘sexually explicit” to attempt to comply with new House Bill 900. 

House Bill 900 would remove from all public school library shelves books that include ‘sexual conduct’ and are “sexually explicit” and require book vendors to establish a rating system for books. 

The bill includes the definition of “sexual conduct” as defined by the Penal Code as including: sexual contact (defined as any touching of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of another person with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person), actual or simulated sexual intercourse (defined as any penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ), deviate sexual intercourse (defined as any contact between the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person), sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals, the anus, or any portion of the female breast below the top of the areole in a vaguely defined “patently offensive” way.

“The school district can decide to be as restrictive as they want. They can’t be less restrictive than a law but they can be more so. I believe in our district, they’re going to even imply sexual contact,” College Park Librarian Toni Gannucci said.

Books that are related to the school’s curriculum yet meet the rating of “sexually explicit” would be classified as “sexually relevant.” These books wouldn’t be removed from schools such as other “sexually explicit” books, but would be put under heavy restriction: requiring parental consent for access. 

Book stores and free speech organizations have issued a lawsuit against the Texas Board of Education. This group includes free speech organizations such as Authors Guild and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund combined with independent book stores such as Blue Willow and BookPeople. This has slowed down the bill in being implemented, yet it is still set to be implemented. 

The banning of books has been a hot-topic for years now, with both groups for and against it being very vocal.

“Opponents of bans argue that by restricting information and discouraging freedom of thought, censors undermine one of the primary functions of education: teaching students how to think for themselves,” The Free Speech Center said. “Such actions, assert free speech proponents, endanger tolerance, free expression, and democracy.”