AUSTIN, TX — (11-14-21) — The School districts of Austin and Dallas say they are rejecting the request made by Republican lawmakers targeting 850 books based on race and LGBTQ+ issues. Major Texas school districts are resisting a Republican state representative’s request that they provide information on books kept in classrooms and libraries, as part of the right wing’s attempts to remove titles that contain race and LGBTQ history and/or injustices.
The Austin and Dallas independent school districts, two of the largest in Texas, said they would not respond to a request to go through a list of 850 books, noting how many copies schools have and how much the books cost.
When JRL CHARTS Politics News reached out to the Houston independent school district, the largest in Texas, they told us that they have yet to make a decision to lawmaker’s request.
Since March of 2021, Republican officials nationwide and their activists, have increased their boogeyman campaign of LGBTQ issues and Black American history on education as an effective political tool.
In the most prominent case, in Virginia, Republicans this month won back the governor’s mansion in a campaign focused on the supposed dangers of critical race theory in state schools that aren’t even teaching Critical race theory in any of the states schools.
Many books on the list sought by right wing Republicans deal with race, sex or LGBTQ+ issues, with the majority concerning LGBTQ+ topics.
Matt Krause, Texas House of Representatives from the 93rd district who is spear heading this anti-LGBTQ campaign asked school districts to identify additional books on subjects that include sexually transmitted diseases, sexually explicit images and graphic presentations of sexual behavior by sexual orientation.
Last Wednesday, Texas governor Greg Abbott directed the state education agency to investigate criminal activity related to “the availability of pornography” in schools, as if it ever existed. This is unreal!.
Several Democrats and lawyers encouraged school districts not to respond to the letter from Krause, as it does not have the legal force of a subpoena.
“The letter is an unofficial request, and as such we are not going to respond to it,” Robyn L Harris, a spokeswoman for the Dallas school district, told JRL CHARTS Politics News.
Austin school districts spokesman Jason Stanford released a statement saying…“After doing more legal research, we’ve decided that a response is not necessary, especially since anyone can search our library catalogs on this website,” said Stanford.
We will continue to follow this story and bring you developments as they become available.
Readers who reside in the 93rd District in Texas can let your representative Matt Krause know your opinion on his campaign to target LGBTQ books on Twitter @RepMattKrause.
Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer
Sign Up Below for #JRLCHARTS Breaking News and Follow @JRLCHARTS Daily on Twitter
- Apprentice Devall Chapter 5: The Covenant Unleashed - April 18, 2024
- Suspect Captured in $13K Adult Toys and Vapes Heist - April 18, 2024
- Eldorado Presents: Undercover Pleasure with Pipedream - April 18, 2024
