As Senate Bill 13 was heard on the Texas House Floor, TFN, students, educators, parents, bookstore owners, and community advocates today came together at the Texas Capitol for a Read-In to protest SB 13, a book-banning bill.
Photos/videos from Texas Freedom Network’s Read-In can be found here
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2025
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/her), [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas — As Senate Bill 13 was heard on the Texas House Floor, Texas Freedom Network (TFN), students, educators, parents, bookstore owners, and community advocates today came together at the Texas Capitol for a Read-In to protest the legislation, SB 13, which limits the books available to Texas kids at public schools and public libraries.
SB 13, already passed by the Senate, would use vendor ratings for “sexually explicit content” based on broad definitions, establish a state-sanctioned library book catalog, and allow districts to form “library advisory councils.” Public education advocates have warned that these councils could be infiltrated by individuals seeking to censor books that reflect the lives and stories of LGBTQIA+, Black, and Brown communities. The bill would also force every school library material purchase to be approved by these advisory boards.
While remarks were not given during the Read-In, Texas Freedom Network, Texas Rising Action, and Texas Freedom to Read Project representatives had the following comments:
“SB 13 will actively harm students, particularly those who are already most vulnerable to bullying, isolation, and erasure. Public schools should be places of inclusion, curiosity, safety, and critical thinking, not battlegrounds in which children are used as targets,” said Levi Fiedler (he/him/they), TFN Political Coordinator. “Students deserve access to books that reflect who they are, expand their minds, and help them feel less alone. This legislature has dedicated itself to making kids feel isolated, afraid, and less than: it forces exclusionary religious texts in their classrooms, strips the gender affirming care they need away, bars them from connecting with peers on social media, kicks their queer-affirming clubs off campus, bans their teachers from being supportive, calls the stories of their ancestors and families too controversial to be studied, and now it will allow any adult with an agenda to place themselves between kids and the freedom to read.”
“We deserve to feel safe to share the stories of our loved ones, our neighbors, and historical icons,” said Jazmeyne Evans (any/all), Texas Rising Action Advocacy and Field Organizer. “We know the consequences of SB 13 and book banning legislation—LGBTQIA+, queer, and transgender youth who most need access to stories that reflect who they are will be blocked from checking out those books, and teens who deserve access to literature that would teach them about the realities of dating, sexual assault, and a range of important topics will not be free to read stories that reflect and expand on their own experiences.”
“Texas schools are becoming book deserts. That is the fruit of the movement to purge books from Texas schools: More than at any time in our lives, our kids are walking into classrooms with few or no books, English teachers are struggling to do their jobs, and librarians are unable to order the books that enrich our students’ education and enlarge their imaginations,” said Frank Strong (he/him), Texas Freedom to Read Project Co-Director. “Lawmakers, Texans do not want SB 13, and we will not forgive you if you continue to damage our schools and impoverish our children’s education. Pay attention to the message from this month’s elections, and let our children read.”
TFN’s Read-In aimed to highlight the power of inclusive literature and uplift the voices of communities directly targeted by SB 13. Before the Read-In, TFN staff and volunteers hosted a community art build where attendees collaboratively painted a banner featuring a rainbow emerging from a book. The banner served as a visual symbol of solidarity and resistance during the Read-In.
TFN is calling on the House to reject SB 13 and instead fight for inclusive, accurate public education that respects every Texas child’s right to learn, read, and thrive.
