Brad Brooks

LUBBOCK (Texas) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott called Wednesday on state education regulator agencies to examine the existence of pornographic books within school libraries.

Abbott addressed a letter to Mike Morath from the Texas Education Agency, stating that he expects the agency to inform him of any instances of pornography provided to minors below the age 18 to ensure that the law is followed to the maximum extent possible.

Abbott said, “I have directed the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to investigate any criminal activity in Texas public schools which involves pornography.”

Abbott sent another letter on Monday to the Education Agency, the State Library and Archives Commission, and the State Board of Education. He asked them to create standards immediately to ensure that “no child is exposed” to pornography at schools.

Abbott is the latest Republican official who has spoken out about issues related to gender, sexual orientation and other cultural matters. This comes as part of a culture war in which Republicans are often compared to Democrats. Governor Abbott is up for re-election in the next year, and is currently being challenged by conservativer candidates.

Texas school districts in suburban Fort Worth reported last week that they had taken a book on gender identity out of their schools’ libraries after receiving complaints from parents. This graphic novel, “Gender Queer: A Memoir”, has been awarded the Best Graphic Novel Award.

Abbott also mentioned “In The Dream House”, a book that was removed recently from Austin’s Leander Independent School District.

Although the Texas Education Agency didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment on Monday, it said that they take Abbott’s complaints very seriously and will comply with his first letter.

The Library and Archives Commission of the State said that it looks forward to working with both the Education Agency and Board of Education “to support our students and family.”

Maia Kobabe (author of Gender Queer: A Memoir) wrote in an opinion piece published in Washington Post last month that the book was being targeted in schools in a variety of states.

Kobabe said that restricting access to queer books at schools or libraries would be like cutting off an important lifeline for young queer people who don’t know how to search Google (NASDAQ). To find out more information about themselves and their health, Kobabe suggested.