DOTHAN — Concerned residents gathered on Wednesday to petition the Dothan Houston County Library Board to remove children's books containing sexually explicit material.
In recent months, Alabama residents have requested their local libraries remove or relocate sexually explicit children's books. Residents in Dothan have complained about the several LGBTQ+ promoting children's books and newly discovered books that include sexually explicit images targeting children.
Present at the board meeting was State Rep. Rick Rehm (R-Dothan), who has joined several other Alabama lawmakers in taking a close look at a similar issue pervading dozens of other state libraries.
The board permitted only one resident to speak publicly on the books. Barbara Moore, a Dothan resident, gave a statement to the board and showed copies of materials in books found in the library. She also presented a petition with over 600 signatures and over 20 reconsideration forms for books.
"These books contain messages and images enticing minors to experiment in pagan sexual activities, including oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, group sex, masturbation, same-sex, opposite sex, and even rape, incest and bestiality," Moore said. "Children and adolescents are widely considered the most vulnerable audiences to sexually explicit material because of their developing brains. Just as early cigarette smoking creates lifetime addiction, so early exposure to sexually explicit material can distort a child's mind for a lifetime."
***WARNING: Explicit images and excerpts below***
One of the books reportedly found in the library and brought by the group is "This Book Is Gay" by Juno Dawson, listed for children aged 14 and up.
The book's excerpt included cartoon depictions of naked people, with diagrams for "boy-on-boy sex," which suggests massaging the prostate and playing with the anus.
A section on "girl-on-girl sex" guide listed a guide for stimulating the anatomy of a "cisgender woman," with the obligatory caveat that "Trans women may have slightly different bodies."
Another excerpt from the book "It's Perfectly Normal," designed for children as young as nine, garnered state attention last month.
The book, by Robie Harris, is illustrated by Michael Emberley. It explains sex and puberty to children and shows depictions of sexual activity. Those depictions include cartoon drawings of naked young people, sex positions and close-up illustrations of genitals.
The excerpt shared with the Dothan Houston County Library Board showed cartoon depictions of a young boy and girl masturbating, describing how it's done.
"Not only is the spread of hideous, hard-core porn to children wrong and immoral, it is illegal and punishable under federal and state law," Moore said. "The First Amendment does not protect giving obscene materials to minors. The U.S. Supreme Court uses a 3-prong standard called 'The Miller Test' to determine obscenity, which states, in part, 'whether the average person, applying contemporary standards, would find the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient, lewd interest.'"
While Alabama does prohibit the distribution of sexual materials to minors, state law does provide an exemption for public libraries, public school or university libraries, and their employees or agents.
After the meeting, Rehm told 1819 News that he believed the material was designed to expose children to sexual content at a young age, an agenda pushed by the American Library Association (ALA)
"I believe that whether the material in question is deemed to be obscene or just sex education, it is still inappropriate for the libraries to allow anyone under 18 to access the material without the consent of a parent or guardian," Rehm said.
"If these issues are not corrected by February, I believe my colleagues and I in the legislature will work to have a legislative fix. The fix may include a complete disassociation from the ALA. It may also include removing the library's exemption from Alabama's obscenity law."
Governor Kay Ivey has also taken on the library issue, butting heads with the Alabama Public Library Service and its partnership with the ALA.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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