Advocates are speaking in favor of two library-related bills addressing the statewide controversy surrounding sexually explicit library books intended for minors and libraries’ affiliation with the American Library Association (ALA).
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) also dropped House Bill 425 (HB425) to further address the issue of libraries.
HB425 would prohibit a library from purchasing or accepting donated materials containing sexual content if the publisher of the material has recommended it for minors. It would also authorize a parent or guardian to seek an injunction against a library that purchases or accepts a donation of sexual content.
Additionally, the bill would prohibit any entity that receives state funds and any library from affiliating with the ALA.
See: State library system votes to withdraw from American Library Association
“We are living in a day when the battle for the minds and hearts of our children could not be more visible and important,” Yarbrough said. “Cherishing our rights to free speech and protecting the innocence of our children and the sanctity of conversations that need to happen between parents and their children are not mutually exclusive. The job of state-funded entities is not to sexualize, groom, or push a woke gender ideology on our children. State-funded entities ought to abide by the anti-obscenity laws of our state, just like all Alabamians. This battle is here to stay, and we should not run from it. Our children - and future generations - are counting on us. I join with other state legislatures who have filed great legislation and add to their legislation HB 425, prohibiting any state entity from giving our children obscene material and requiring all state entities to follow our anti-obscenity laws. Alabama values are protected by Alabama’s people and ought to be protected by Alabama’s government.”
Yarbrough’s bill has some overlap with House Bill 385 (HB385) by State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) which passed the House State Government Committee advanced a bill on Wednesday.
Both bills repeal the state’s obscenity exception for K-12 and public libraries while maintaining that university libraries or their employees are still exempt.
HB 385 primarily addresses the statewide controversy surrounding sexually explicit or obscene children's books in Alabama libraries. However, it would also add a definition to the state's "sexual conduct" provision, seemingly targeted at public drag shows.
"Any sexual or gender-oriented material that knowingly exposes minors to persons who are dressed in sexually revealing, exaggerated, or provocative clothing or costumes, or are stripping, or engaged in lewd or lascivious dancing, presentations, or activities in K-12 public schools, public libraries, and other public places where minors are expected and are known to be present without parental consent," a late addition to the bill reads.
It also answers a call from lawmakers and political leaders for oversight and restrictions on inappropriate books in libraries targeting minors.
Under current law, "It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly distribute, possess with intent to distribute, or offer or agree to distribute any obscene material or any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for anything of pecuniary (monetary) value. Material not otherwise obscene may be obscene under this section if the distribution of the material, the offer to do so, or the possession with the intent to do so is a commercial exploitation of erotica solely for the sake of prurient appeal."
Both bills received praise from Clean Up Alabama, an entity that started in Prattville, where the fight over Alabama libraries began.
“Clean Up Alabama is proud to support both efforts and calls on lawmakers and citizens alike to work together to pass these bills into law,” the group said in a release.
Mooney presented the bill before the committee on Wednesday, saying it was not designed to target librarians “who do really good things and fantastic things for children and their families.”
"I think that it's important to look at what this bill does not do," Mooney said. "This bill does not affect the rights of any adult to engage in sexual or gender-related speech or activities in any place where minors are not present and which would otherwise be defined as obscenity. Adult men and women are free to dress as they choose and act as they choose so long as it's not in a place where minors are expected or known to be present, without parental consent."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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