When Barbara Steinke heard late Tuesday night that there would be a public hearing at the Legislature about a bill that could potentially lead to librarians, teachers and museum curators getting arrested for displaying “obscene matter,” it hit close to home.
Steinke, who is in a same-sex relationship, remembers the controversies years ago over “Heather has Two Mommies,” a book published in 1989 that describes a little girl being raised by lesbians. Steinke said while her son was mostly accepted in school, books like this gave him something to relate to.
And for her nephew, who Steinke said is also gay, books at the library saved him.
“He had a rough time in school and the books he read helped him figure out who he is,” she said. “They saved his life, I believe. So I take this very personally.”
So Steinke showed up bright and early Wednesday to testify against HB 4654. The bill would allow for the prosecution of any adult — including teachers and librarians — that displays “obscene matter” to minors. Currently, schools, libraries and museums are exempt from criminal prosecution under this statute.
Opponents of the bill say it’s targeted at removing books that almost exclusively include LGBTQ themes, while supporters argue some of the books contain content that’s not appropriate for young children.
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For retired Kanawha County Schools librarian Carol Miley, the proposed law makes sense. She came to the public hearing because she’s concerned about the direction childrens’ literature has taken in recent years. About five years prior to her retirement in 2011, Miley said she started noticing “dark things, the occult and disrespectful books” hitting the market.
“Some of these books were pushing the edge on crude humor and teaching kids to be disrespectful to adults and authority,” she said. “It was really getting widespread in the middle and high schools by then.”
Then a few years ago, Miley said she got keyed into some of the books that she found to be “beyond the pale.”
“It’s mind rape, it’s word pornography,” she said.
West Virginia’s state code defines “obscene matter” as something an average person, “applying community standards” would find as excessively or offensively sexually explicit and lacking “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”. Last year in Parkersburg, two residents argued the library director was violating state law by including books like an adult graphic memoir that includes pictures of sex and a teen sex guide in its collection. But because state law exempted libraries from criminal prosecution, the library director was not charged.
About 28 other people also showed up Wednesday to speak for and against the measure.
At the lectern, supporters read excerpts from challenged books into the record, with one woman reading from the teen novel “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” repeating the word “pussy” nine times into the House record.
Pastors pleaded for lawmakers to save “the souls of our children” and several residents from Wood County said the bill didn’t amount to a book ban, but rather, a way to hold librarians accountable.
Librarians and free speech advocates argued against the bill — some said it would put an undue burden on public libraries because they’d have to carry higher insurance and keep attorneys on retainer.
They said ultimately, it was up to the parents to decide what is appropriate and not appropriate for their children. In fact, one opponent asked why stop at schools and librarians – they could just throw the parents in jail over it.
The bill is currently pending before the House Judiciary Committee.