Texas Freedom Coalition Files FOIA

Tyler, TX. -- The Texas Freedom Coalition filed a request for public information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Texas Public Information Act, asking the Tyler Independent School District to provide all records from the Tyler Legacy High School Library regarding the following books named: Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, Red, White and Royal Blue by casey McQuiston, Laura Dean keeps breaking up with me by Mariko Tamiki, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally, Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh, The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality, Exit: Pursued by a Bear by EK Johnston, The Hookup Artist by Shaw Tucker, We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Neilsen-Fernlund, Girl Man's Up by ME Gerard, I'll Give You the Sun by Jardy Nelson, Whatever: or How Junior Year Became Totally F$@cked by SJ Goslee, Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson, The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell, and All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson.

They asked that information include, but not be limited to - names of staff who have checked out any books named in the list provided, dates of checkout and dates returned, how many minor children have checked out each of the named books, and what dates they were checked and returned, in addition to the dates of when each of these books was ordered for use in the Tyler Legacy School Library, and by whom. This request for public information comes as a result of their independent, ongoing audit of the Tyler ISD libraries after books that contain explicit and graphic sexual content, including oral sex, anal sex, rape, and pedophilia were discovered. Christin Bentley, Founder and President of Texas Freedom Coalition, and other concerned Tyler citizens spoke at the Tyler ISD School Board Meeting on November 15, 2021, asking for a school-sponsored independent and transparent audit of sexually explicit young adult and adult literature that would include community input and reflect community values.

Since the meeting, the Tyler ISD has removed two of the books in question from the Legacy High school Library, including All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, which contains graphic scenes of anal and oral sex between young males, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, which depicts sexual acts between grown men and boys. The Texas Freedom Coalition has a list of over 100 books in the Tyler Legacy Highschool that contain material they believe to be inappropriate for minors; books that contain explicit sex, pedophilia, pornography, abortion, rape, and sexual violence, underage drinking, and drug abuse, and bad language.

The Texas Freedom Coalition is committed to bringing attention to the sexual exploitation, sexual grooming, and sexual abuse that occurs when minors experience realistic fiction that depicts adult sexual themes in literature, and strongly believe that books containing adult sexual content should not be made available to minors or celebrated in our public schools.