Texas Senate Failed to Protect Children From Pornographic Materials in Public Libraries
May 30, 2025 | Media Inquiries: press@mctxgop.org
by Christin Bentley, Chair, Texas GOP Legislative Priority: Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids
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A GOP Priority Bill to Protect Kids from Explicit Library Content Was Left to Die in the Texas Senate
Texas children were failed this week—not by radical activists or liberal school boards, but by our own elected leaders in the Texas Senate.
House Bill 3225, filed by Rep. Daniel Alders and sponsored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, was a commonsense piece of legislation that would have prohibited sexually explicit materials from being placed in the children’s sections of Texas public libraries. It didn’t ban books. It didn’t remove parental rights. It simply asked for a line to be drawn—one that says our youngest Texans should not have access to pornographic or explicit content in public spaces funded by our tax dollars.
This bill was not just another proposal in a crowded legislative session. HB 3225 was one of the top Legislative Priority bills of the Republican Party of Texas, adopted by thousands of grassroots delegates representing voters across the state.
Protecting children from sexually explicit content in taxpayer-funded libraries is not a fringe idea—it’s a core value of the party that currently holds the majority in both chambers.
And the Texas House delivered. HB 3225 passed with overwhelming bipartisan support—93 yeas and just 37 nays. Lawmakers in the Texas House recognized the urgency and the common-sense nature of the bill and did their job to protect Texas children.
Yet despite that, HB 3225 was left to die. This week, the bill sat on the Senate Intent Calendar for days. Each day, it was passed over. Each day, no action was taken. And now, time has run out.
This wasn’t a complex or controversial bill. It reflected the very values that so many Texans believe in—the right of children to be protected from harm and the responsibility of public institutions to serve—not endanger—our families.
The facts are not up for debate. There are Texas libraries where minors have been able to access materials containing graphic sexual imagery, explicit descriptions of sex acts, and content that most adults would be shocked to find available to children.
HB 3225 would have ensured that these books were in the appropriate sections. That is what legislators were asked to vote on—and that is what they failed to deliver.
The most infuriating part? This wasn’t legislative gridlock—it was deliberate. Leadership chose to stall a Republican priority bill that would have protected children. That’s not just failure—that’s betrayal.
Let me be very clear: Texas children cannot afford to wait another two years for this issue to be addressed. Every day that goes by without these safeguards in place is a day when children are exposed to harmful pornographic and explicit materials in their taxpayer funded public libraries.
But this fight isn’t over. Texas voters are paying attention. Parents are mobilizing. And we will not forget who stood up—and who stood down—when it mattered most.
I encourage you to contact Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and ask him why he let such a critical bill die in his chamber.
Texans deserve answers—and our children deserve protection.
Exercise Consent/Dissent of the Governed
Let Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick hear from you AGAIN since he ignored you the first, second, and third time we rallied you on this issue! Thank you for your calls and emails.
Use THIS LINK to email the Lt. Governor, access his social media pages, and his phone number.
Let him know what you think about this failure to protect children when the Texas House actually got it done!
Note his Chief of Staff’s contact information there just below the Lt. Governor’s contact information. Be sure to let his Chief know what you think.
There is nothing more important than protecting children. Thank you for your continued commitment to them.
In liberty and God’s grace,
Christin Bentley, M.S.
SD-1 State Republican Executive Committeewoman
Chair, Legislative Priority: Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids