LEAGUE CITY – League City council members narrowly approved a measure that will block certain library materials deemed “obscene” from being purchased using city tax dollars.
The council voted 4-3 on Tuesday night to approve the resolution, which will stop city tax dollars from being spent on library materials that contain obscenity or other harmful content, including topics of pedophilia, rape, and bondage.
During the meeting, council members removed language from the initial proposal by council members Andy Mann and Justin Hicks that would have blocked city tax dollars from being spent on materials about gender ideology and human sexuality.
The resolution also calls for the creation of a committee that will review community concerns about library materials and help determine if they should be moved to an area of the library with materials intended for adults.
Community members packed council chambers and provided more than two hours of public testimony before council members took a vote. A majority of those who spoke to the council were not in favor of the proposal, and the meeting became heated at times with people talking over each other.
“I’ve read many, many books about straight people and I’m still gay,” one person speaking to the council against the proposal said.
“Censorship is censorship. Whether you use the name or not, saying something is restricted is the same as censorship,” someone else against the proposal said.
“As a society, we have agreed that it is unmoral, unethical and potentially illegal for adults to use taxpayer-funded resources to access material that is explicit, obscene or pornographic, yet currently the city of League City has provided tax-payer funded resources to children,” another community member supporting the proposal said.
The council may come back and discuss the complaint process at a later time to ensure all community concerns about library materials are handled appropriately.