{"id":352456,"date":"2026-06-27T07:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T07:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/352456\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T07:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T07:31:33","slug":"conservative-activists-urge-lubbock-isd-to-remove-explicit-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/352456\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative Activists Urge Lubbock ISD To Remove Explicit Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conservative activists urged Lubbock Independent School District trustees to remove explicit books available to students in the libraries at a meeting Thursday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Citizens for Education Reform founder Susan Perez told<\/a> trustees the district has been slow\u2011walking book challenges despite a flood of complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perez attempted to read and show images from \u201cBlankets\u201d by Craig Thompson, which contains explicit sexual content, molestation, and nudity. The book in question can be found in Willie McCool Academy and Lubbock High School. However, Perez\u2019 microphone was cut off during this portion of her testimony.<\/p>\n

After her microphone was turned back on, Perez said community members submitted about 130 reconsideration forms after state lawmakers passed the READER Act<\/a> in 2023 and later presented a vetted list of more than 1,000 titles, flagging 635 books they consider sexually explicit across Lubbock ISD campuses.<\/p>\n

Perez said the district\u2019s School Library Advisory Council (SLAC) rejected their suggestion to use AI screening, like neighboring Frenship ISD, and instead kept a complex case\u2011by\u2011case process that is \u201cvery challenging for a parent to use.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter three years of the 130 submissions, only seven books that I know of have been removed,\u201d she told the board, adding that the public website no longer shows the original list of challenges. \u201cI\u2019m here asking you to support learning without exposing children to explicit content that is not age appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative activist Bonnie Wallace read to the board from \u201cThis Boy\u201d by Lauren Myracle, a novel currently available at Estacado High School and Coronado High School.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The book includes explicit sexual activities and nudity, explicit sexual dialogue, references to porn websites, prescription drug abuse, and repeated profanity.<\/p>\n

Wallace attempted to read passages from the book explaining how \u201ctouching your own dick is awesome, but when a girl touches your dick\u2026 your \u2018like\u2019 turns into \u2018love\u2019 real quick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, her microphone was cut off while she read from the novel.<\/p>\n

She told Texas Scorecard that more than 1,000 explicit books at roughly $30 each represent tens of thousands of dollars in district spending that could be used elsewhere.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Charles Perry<\/a> (R\u2013Lubbock) also addressed the board and criticized both the content and the district\u2019s response.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holding up a printed page of explicit excerpts, he told trustees he would not read the text aloud because he didn\u2019t want to \u201cgive credit to the author that produced this trash,\u201d but said the book had gone through the reconsideration process and the SLAC committee still voted 3\u20132 to return it to shelves.<\/p>\n

Perry cited third\u2011party ratings that marked some Lubbock ISD titles as \u201cminor restricted\u201d and others as \u201cadult only,\u201d saying, \u201cnumerous books exist on the shelves of the libraries of LISD today that are \u2026 adult only, 18 and up, and three, which are minor restricted. The language and where they go to is, I believe, not in line with community standards.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He argued that a \u201cpublic school library should be a safe place, should be a place where parents and grandparents don\u2019t have to wonder about the derogatory terms that are being used in the context of female anatomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comparing explicit school library content to sneaking adult magazines as a teenager, Perry said past generations at least \u201cknew there was something bad, inherently wrong with it, because we had a backstop at home, we had a moral compass,\u201d but that many students today lack that foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He described the district\u2019s current review process as something that \u201cseems to have been developed to stall and frustrate,\u201d and urged trustees to adopt a faster approach using automated searches for \u201cderogatory list[s] of words that are not acceptable,\u201d noting that Frenship ISD has employed a similar method.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s on the shelves today is not where we want to land,\u201d Perry said, adding that he is prepared to pursue \u201cstatute revisions if necessary\u201d but hopes the board will act on its own.<\/p>\n

Wallace told Texas Scorecard that it appeared district officials selectively cut off only the comments that would embarrass Lubbock ISD, noting that Sen. Perry\u2019s remarks were allowed to continue while every speaker who read from district\u2011purchased books had their microphone cut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it curious that each person who read content from books that LISD has purchased, making it LISD\u2019s government speech, had their microphone cut? I suggest this is to prevent the public from knowing the extreme sexually explicit nature of their government speech!\u201d stated Wallace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anne Ivey used her speaking time to argue that reviewers do not need to read every page to determine whether a book is age\u2011appropriate, likening the process instead to turning off a graphic movie on Netflix within the first five minutes. \u201cIt already becomes evident if it is a wholesome book or a dirty and obscene book,\u201d she told trustees.<\/p>\n

Ivey highlighted another title she said is still available in the Coronado High library, \u201cKingdom of the Cursed\u201d by Kerri Maniscalco, which she cited as containing \u201cBDSM orgies, animal cruelty, death, drug and alcohol use, explicit obscene sexual activities, gore, torture, and excessive profanity, including rape and sexual assault.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book could well be the script of an X\u2011rated movie, but it is in the CHS library, where ninth graders as young as 14 years old could check out this book,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ivey asked trustees directly, \u201cDo you agree with pornography being accessible in our school libraries? Do you agree that books describing explicit sexual acts are inappropriate for minors to read?\u201d and urged them \u201cto step up, to be bold, to be unafraid, and to protect our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez told the board she and other parents remain willing to work with the district and the SLAC but want a simpler, faster process and a firmer line on sexually explicit material.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to work with LISD and the SLAC committee,\u201d she said, \u201cto support learning without exposing children to explicit content that is not age appropriate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\n A born and bred Texan, Sydnie serves as the Managing Editor for Texas Scorecard. She graduated from Patrick Henry College with a B.A. in Government and is utilizing her research and writing skills to spread truth to Texans. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conservative activists urged Lubbock Independent School District trustees to remove explicit books available to students in the libraries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169,125544,1563],"class_list":["post-352456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-protect-texas-children","tag-public-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}