Missouri ‘Sexual Material’ Censorship Bill Could Jail Librarians

A new bill proposed by a Republican Missouri state lawmaker aims to create a “review board” that would check materials in the state’s public libraries for “nudity, sexuality, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse.” Librarians found to be lending out any such offending books to kids could face stiff fines, or even jail time. The bill, House Bill 2044, was authored by Missouri Assembly member Ben Baker, who told the Neosho Daily News—a newspaper in his home district—that he was inspired to come up with the legislation after hearing about the “Drag Queen Story Hour” event at a library in Houston, Texas. “My intention is to protect our children from objectionable materials and events that are being allowed in some libraries,” Baker said. “There is an agenda by certain groups to introduce children to inappropriate adult themes using the vehicle of the tax-funded library to do so and I think we need to address it.” But the bill itself does not directly address “Drag Queen Story Hour” events. But in an interview with The New York Times, Baker cited such young adult fiction works as Alice on Her Way and Rainbow Boys as the type of material that would be weeded out by the provisions of the bill. Rainbow Boys is a coming-of-age story about three gay teenage boys, while Alice on Her Way is the 17th installment in the 25-book “Alice McKinley” series chronicling the adolescence of the title character from sixth grade through college. In 2003 the Alice series surpassed Harry Potter on the American Library Association list of “most challenged” books for “sexual content” and “offensive language.” Under the bill authored by Baker, librarians who lend out such books to children could be fined up to $500—or even face a year behind bars. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told the Times that her organization was “dismayed and unhappy to see a bill that would essentially put librarians in jail for sharing materials that are constitutionally protected and age appropriate except in the eyes of five people.” Photo by State Library of New South Wales / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain