AUSTIN, Texas — Lawmakers at the Texas Capitol recently passed House Bill 900, which will require book vendors to assign ratings to books based on the presence of depictions or references to sex.
The law is scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 1.
Valerie Koehler owns Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, and she said she is nervous about the impacts the new legislation may have on her business.
"It could easily put our business out of business by having to spend the time – which is money – to rate these books," she said. "This whole idea of 'not just explicit sexual content but sexual content,' or some sort of relevant content, we don't know it. You know, we don't know what's that supposed to mean? Is that two 15-year-olds kissing?"
That's why Koehler teamed with the owners of BookPeople in Austin, as well as national bookseller associations, to file a lawsuit this week over the new law. The CEOs of both stores said the new law will require them to rate far too many books.
Cindi Castilla, who leads the conservative think tank Texas Eagle Forum, pushed back against those claims. She believes vendors must have an understanding of the products they are offering.
"They should be cautious what they're putting in front of other people's children, and that's the problem. It's other people's children that are having access to these books, not their own," Castilla said.
Sam Williams is the parent of a 4-year-old son in Llano County. He recently decided to homeschool his child because of current politics.
"Sex is something that humans are going to face, kind of inevitably in some way or another. So to be informed about it and learn about it in a safe setting is important to me," Williams said.
State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco), who authored the legislation, sent KVUE the following statement regarding the the lawsuit:
"Having fought against sexually explicit content in schools for the past 18 months, I fully recognize the far left will do anything to maintain their ability to sexualize or children. We anticipated a suit such as this from the beginning and crafted the READER act based on longstanding Supreme Court precedent across multiple cases. To Texas parents and taxpayers who have fought along our side, I say we are neither surprised nor unprepared. To those standing against Texas schoolchildren I simply say, bring it with everything you have because I don't want to hear any excuses when we put the final nail in the coffin of your woke agenda."
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) have until the beginning of January to create guidelines for vendors. Then those businesses will have four months to submit a list to the TEA or be barred from selling books to schools.
Editor's note: In our commitment to transparency, KVUE is disclosing that the attorney for the plaintiffs in this case, Laura Prather, also represents KVUE in various legal matters unrelated to this case.