Books Banned in Prisons, but Allowed in Schools? Texas Mom Wants Them Out

A Texas mother is looking to pass several bills through the state legislature this session after discovering what she calls “vulgar,” “profane,” and “indecent” books in public school libraries across the state.

Bonnie Wallace, a member of the Llano County Library Advisory Board and mother to a former Llano County Independent School District student, began warning parents, school officials, and lawmakers about the inappropriate content available to children in public schools after she found dozens of “bad books” at her local high school library. 

“Someone showed me a picture from a book, and the book is called ‘Gender Queer,’ and it’s by … an author named Maia Kobabe … and it was in our library,” Wallace told The Daily Signal.

“Gender Queer” contains graphic depictions of sex and discusses topics such as “gender identity” and sexual preference. 

During her investigations into Texas public school libraries, Wallace said she found books containing QR codes that link to online sex shops, Planned Parenthood, and a website called “F***ing Trans Women.” 

Wallace regularly attends school board meetings where she reads passages from such books found in school libraries, so parents and staff know the kind of content children are able to access. 

“They tell me, ‘Mrs. Wallace, you cannot say those words in this room. … They’re vulgar, they’re profane, they’re indecent.’ … I tell all of them, ‘You are exactly right. I agree with you. It’s profanity, it’s profane, it’s indecent, it’s obscene. Why is it in a book in your high school or your junior high?’”  

When asked about the most common themes she finds in these inappropriate books, Wallace said, “Sexual themes, cutting. There’s a lot of books about cutting. There’s books about suicide.” 

“Cutting” is a form of self-injury, in which a person cuts himself or herself to cope with emotional pain. 

One of the bills Wallace proposed to the state legislature this year is to prohibit public school libraries from carrying any book banned in Texas prisons. 

“The Texas Department of Criminal Justice that handles all the prisons in Texas and protocols, they have a list of 10,800 books that they prohibit Texas prisoners from accessing,” Wallace told The Daily Signal. “Any sex act that is illegal in Texas cannot be in a book that’s sent to a prisoner in Texas. … By the way, I have books in high schools and junior highs that have all of these things. It’s shocking.” 

In June 2024, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reposted a clip on X of Wallace reading excerpts from a book found in the Brownsville Independent School District, saying, “If a book cannot be read out loud at a school board meeting in Texas, then there is no reason for Texas children in school to be able to read it.” 

Even after books are exposed for being indecent, the process to get them removed from school districts can be lengthy.

In February 2024, The Daily Signal reported that Llano High School Principal Scott Patrick emailed Wallace saying it would take “roughly 30 days” for the school district to review each cited book. 

When asked what advice Wallace would offer concerned parents, she said, “Be involved, because the main theme that I encounter everywhere I go is ignorance. People have no idea what’s in the libraries these days.”

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