Court Orders Texas Libraries to Restock Transgender, Controversial Books in Kids Section, But Not Sexually Explicit Material
Litigation in the lower court, which issued a more expansive order to restock the books, continues after the appeal court’s decision and will determine whether the removals violated the First Amendment.These books discuss sexuality and homosexuality, transgenderism, and “the history of racism in the United States,” respectively.
Judge Jacques Wiener, Jr., who would have ordered all books returned, accepted that libraries must engage in content-based curation, such as assessing what will be or is of interest to the community.
Judge Leslie Southwick agreed in part with Wiener and wrote a partial concurrence. Southwick, however, argued that removing books likeI would have no difficulty in allowing the removal of a book from the children’s section on the basis that it encourages children to engage in sexual activity with adults or includes sexually explicit content. At this stage of the case, I find ordering the return of such books to be error.