Texas booksellers, authors sue state over new law

AUSTIN — A coalition including Texas bookstores, national booksellers, authors and publishers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to stop a new law they say amounts to "state censorship."

House Bill 900, authored by state Rep. Jared Patterson, a Frisco Republican, was passed during the state regular legislative session. It requires vendors to review and rate millions of books and other library materials according to sexual content if they are sold to school libraries. It was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June and goes into law on Sept. 1.

The coalition argues that the law violates their First Amendment rights and would be impossible to implement.

“The Texas law replaces the long-established rights of local communities to set and implement standards for school material within constitutional boundaries, and forces private businesses to act as instruments of state censorship on controversial topics,” the coalition said in a statement.

The coalition is asking the court for preliminary and permanent injunctions to enjoin the implantation of the law.

The Authors’s Guild, one of the plaintiffs, said what is concerning about the law is that the ratings must follow “vague labels dictated by the state, with no recourse for judicial review.”

“As we embark on this crucial legal battle, we call upon all authors, readers, and literary enthusiasts to join us in safeguarding the future of free expression in Texas,” the Guild said. “Together, we can protect the state’s rich literary heritage and ensure that students have access to a wide array of thought-provoking and diverse literature for generations to come.”

The law is the latest push by Texas Republicans to limit student access to certain materials in school libraries.

Texas school leaders have already banned more books than any other state: 801 books across 22 school districts, with 174 titles banned at least twice, according to a 2022 PEN America report.

Many districts have also adopted new guidelines and resolution procedures to aid concerned parents and community members in flagging books.

Patterson, the bill author, previously said he believed the bill was necessary “to take sexually explicit content out of our children’s hands in public schools.”

Following the announcement of the lawsuit, Patterson said in a statement that the lawsuit was anticipated but that the bill is 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 out the final nail in the coffin of your woke agenda," Patterson said.

LGBTQ advocates and others have said they are worried these laws and bans are disproportionately targeting books that are about race and racism or LGBTQ issues and characters.

Johnathan Gooch, communications director for Equality Texas, a statewide political advocacy organization for the LGBTQ community, noted that targeting books written for the LGBTQ or People of Color communities can be detrimental to young people.

“I know that those are difficult topics to discuss, but they’re also very real topics that reflect the very real pain that so many people experience,” Gooch said. “I think it’s important that we be able to have healthy conversations with children about the darker aspects of life.”