There are exceptions for anatomy, biology, sex education, art, and other depictions considered educational.
Melissa Corey, president of the Missouri School Librarians Association, said the law would likely only apply to certain comics and graphic novels, which are longer comics.
Republican Senator Rick Brattin spearheaded the bill, attaching it to another bill aimed at protecting the rights of victims of sexual assault. He originally proposed a broader ban that would ban written descriptions of sexual acts, but this was cut during closed-door negotiations.
“When you go to read the definition of what’s illegal — literal sexual acts, graphic human masturbation — those are things that are within the definition and people find it debatable that it should be in front of children,” Brattin said. “I’m really amazed at how controversial this has become.”
Democratic Senator Barbara Washington said Democrats were trying to limit the scope of the law to save books like Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s debut novel, The Bluest Eye, which is not banned by the new law.
“We have works of art and literary books that may be offensive to some, but generally not necessarily offensive,” Washington said.
Brattin cited The Fun House: A Family Tragicomic as a book he would like to be banned from schools under the new law. The graphic memoir chronicles author Alison Bechdel’s complicated relationship with her late father and includes painted images of masturbation and oral sex.
Corey said it is not yet clear which books will be removed from Missouri school libraries. These decisions are made at the school district level, and she said schools have policies that govern a formal process for checking which books students can access.
Corey said the association advised librarians to work with local school boards to best follow the law, especially the arts and biology exceptions.
“Ultimately it all depends on how the school board will interpret the bill after consulting with a lawyer,” she said.
Corey says librarians follow the district’s policy when deciding which books to offer to Missouri students. She said books are approved for different grades based on what educators consider age-appropriate, meaning high schoolers and kindergarteners don’t have access to the same literature.
Corey said Missouri librarians want students to be represented in literature and students “to see themselves reflected in books.”
She cautioned against going too far in limiting what materials students can access.
“When you try to challenge or review a book, it really becomes a very slippery slope,” Corey said. “That’s something we really need to think about.”
The issue is likely to resurface in the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January. Brattin said the next target for some Republicans would be written descriptions of sex acts.
“School districts should definitely be aware that this will be the next attempt,” Brattin said. “Much of this material is literary in nature.”
Summer Ballentine (), Associated Press