Booksellers, publishers sue over Texas ban on 'sexually explicit' content in schools

Multiple booksellers, publishers and authors filed a lawsuit in Texas on Tuesday over the state's soon-to-be enacted law banning “sexually explicit” content in schools. 

The lawsuit, led by organizations such as the American Booksellers Association and the Association of American Publishers, are going after the Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act on the grounds it violates the First and 14th amendments of the Constitution. 

The legislation, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last month and set to go into effect in September, would require companies selling books to Texas public schools to label certain ones as “sexually relevant” or “sexually explicit.” 

“Sexually relevant” content would be allowed in schools but students would need permission from a guardian. “Sexually explicit” content would be banned from schools and is defined as material that “describes, depicts, or portrays sexual conduct in a way that is patently offensive.”

Companies would have to put these labels on the thousands of books already sold and those that will be sold in the future. If one fails to comply, Texas schools will no longer be able to work with them. 

“It is central to the First Amendment that the government can neither restrain nor compel speech, but this law will force booksellers to label constitutionally protected works of literature and nonfiction with highly subjective and stigmatizing ratings, effectively forcing private actors to convey and act upon the government’s views even when they disagree,” the coalition of publishers said in a statement.

Lawmakers had said during debate that the law could jeopardize classic works such as "Romeo and Juliet" and even apply to texts such as the Bible. 

“The law is also unfair to local communities who have the right to set their own standards. We would be forced to seek legal opinions about every book we will sell and have sold. We do not have the human or capital resources as a small independent bookshop to comply with the law as it is written,” said Valerie Koehler, owner of Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop. 

The lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas aims to put preliminary and permanent injunctions on the law.

Those in support of the bill say its purpose is to protect children from sexually inappropriate content. 

“Schools should not expose, intentionally or accidentally, students to graphic sexual material,” said Austin Prochko, deputy campaign manager of Next Generation Texas. “HB 900 is a straightforward, conservative way to prevent school libraries from providing sexual material to minors.”