Books probed by a Texas lawmaker by women, people of color, LGBTQ writers. They’re asking: ‘Really?’

Messages from readers often flow into Sophie Gonzales’ inbox. Teens tell Gonzales that their books on queer characters are the first time they have been reflected in literature. Adults say they wish they had heard their stories growing up.

“I especially tore myself apart at the scene where [the protagonist’s] Friends tell her that she’s still gay even when she’s with a boy because I think it’s something I had to hear that no one had ever told me, ”one sender praised Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper .

But this week some of the news Gonzales received about her book was different. She heard from friends, fellow writers, and her agent that Perfect on Paper appeared on a list of more than 800 titles being part of an investigation by a Texas legislature.

Rep. Matt Krause, chairman of the House Committee on General Investiging, informed the Texas Education Agency and unnamed superintendents that he would initiate an investigation into the school library’s books and curricula.

Attached to Krause’s letter was a 16-page list of books that were published from 1969 to 2021 and deal with issues of race, gender identity, and sexuality. These included Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander.

The Fort Worth Republican asked school principals to find out where copies of the listed books were in school libraries and classrooms, and how much money the districts had spent on them. He urged the districts to identify other books within the next two and a half weeks that deal with human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or any material that “could cause students discomfort, guilt, fear, or any other form of psychological nature” . Distress ”because of their race or their gender.

An analysis of Krause’s list by The Dallas Morning News found that of the first 100 titles listed, 97 were written by women, people of color, or LGBTQ authors. They immerse themselves in perspectives from the Black Lives Matter movement and contain stories told from the perspective of queer characters. Several on the list have won awards.

“It’s breathtaking how openly these gestures are discriminatory,” said Ashley Hope Pérez, who wrote a book on the Out of Darkness list. “It is so clearly an expression of the attack on people with non-white, non-dominant identities. This attack is directed against the authors, but also against the people whose experiences are reflected in these books. “

Krause declined a request for comment on Wednesday.

When Gonzales scanned the list, she thought, “Really?”

“Basically almost every writer I know is there,” she said. “Young Adult is such a diverse category. It was really a place where a lot of marginalized authors were successful in publishing. “

This latest twist in the battle over the stories children are told comes months after state lawmakers passed laws banning “critical racial theory” from the classroom. Academic theory, often only taught in higher education, has been fused by conservative experts with a wide range of diversity and inclusion work in schools. Off the ground, some lawmakers argued that it was used to make children feel guilty about their race.

“All of this is in the name of trying to do what? To protect children? To keep them from seeing certain subjects in books? But who protects children from racism and homophobia and misogyny and misogyny? ”Asked author Kalynn Bayron, who wrote Cinderella is Dead and lived in San Antonio until recently.

Krause’s investigation and extensive book list is the “chilling effect and actual censorship” that opponents of so-called anti-critical racial theory laws warned against during legislative periods, said Chloe Latham Sikes of the Intercultural Development Research Association.

When “Krause says that these are books in general that make students uncomfortable, he means that they might make him uncomfortable,” said Latham Sikes. “For students looking for these books, there could be many other causes of discomfort in their life. These books are probably not one of them. “

The removal of a single book represents a loss of knowledge and perspective, Latham Sikes said, but the removal of books that document recent history, including the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, would be an “assault on the truth.”

Since the bill was passed, parents across Texas have questioned books dealing with issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Some have read brief passages about sexual assault and sexual experiences during school board meetings and say the material is unsuitable for children.

A mother in Richardson went somewhat viral against books containing descriptions of assault and vulgar language, according to her testimony. She later said she questioned the titles’ information on suicide and “leftist ideology.”

In response, the counties have taken different steps. Some have removed books from libraries or rescheduled authoring events. Richardson ISD, for example, paused book clubs to make sure options could be reviewed.

Some of the writers at the center of the controversy are disappointed with how some parents characterize their work and are concerned about what Krause’s move signals.

It sends the message to some children that their very existence is controversial, Gonzales said.

“A lot of those books there are books about people of color just going on adventures,” she said. “They are books about people from the LGBT community who fall in love or have difficulties at school. This is their existence and it sends a message that there is something wrong with living their life, making their day. “

Pérez, a former Texas school teacher, said she wrote her books for her students, who are mostly Latinos and “hungry for stories about their experiences.”

She has watched how literature has become more diverse for young adults in recent years and is concerned about the backlash, especially with school libraries turning so many children for free access to books.

“All of this work is being undermined,” she said, “by this coordinated effort to tear these books off the shelves of school libraries.”

Reporters Emily Donaldson and Allie Morris contributed to this article.

The DMN Education Lab deepens reporting and discussion on pressing educational issues that are critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control over the Education Lab’s journalism.

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