Texas School Board President Slams Parents For Protesting Pornographic Books

The president of the board of trustees of a Texas school district attacked parents who protested pornographic books that were available in school libraries.

Ruthie Keyes, whose biography on the official site of the Keller Independent School District states she is a retired teacher, responded to criticism of Maia Kobabe’s book “Gender Queer” by saying in a Facebook post, “this was one of about 589,000 books in the district. It was immediately removed and the only reason hundreds of people saw it is because people started distributing it out on social media. Those are the people that should be ashamed for distributing.”

“I wish people would want to be a part of the solution and ask what they can do to help instead of spreading hate and division,” she added.

“Gender Queer” features graphic depictions of oral sex and sexual encounters among adolescents, according to parents. It is one of several that have been challenged by angry parents in Fairfax County, Virginia and other jurisdictions.

“It would be strange if parents were not concerned about sexually explicit material accessible to their children — the content of some of these books is not only ideological in nature but also graphic its depictions of sexual acts between adults and children,” Nicole Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education said in a release. “A strap-on dildo is not something parents expect to see in a book on the school library shelves.”

The purported availability of pornographic material in school libraries has also drawn condemnation from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

“Parents have the right to shield their children from obscene content used in schools their children attend. They are right that Texas public schools should not provide or promote pornographic or obscene material to students,” Abbott wrote to Dr. Dan Troxell, the executive director of the Texas School Board Association on Nov. 1.

“You have an obligation to Texas parents and students to ensure that no child in Texas is exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content while inside a Texas public school,” Abbott added.

Keyes did not reply to an email from the Daily Caller News Foundation requesting comment.

“Sadly, in far too many districts across the country, school board members ignore and mock the concerns of the very people they have been elected to represent,” Neily said. “It’s little wonder there were electoral repercussions last week – a trend that is likely to continue unless and until voters are treated with respect.”