In August, Katy ISD’s school board adopted a revision to the EFB Local library book policy that prohibits books that “promote gender fluidity” in elementary & junior high, & requires parent opt-in for high school students. 

According to information obtained by public information request, Katy ISD campus librarians were informed in early October that students are to be prohibited from checking out over 400 books that the District marked “FA(Local)” in the District wide Destiny library catalog.

At least 400+ books- targeted for their LGBTQ+ content - are to remain on the shelves while they undergo internal reconsideration- and students are being denied access if they attempt to check out any of them. This is a detour from standard practice in the District. Typically books being informally and formally reconsidered remain available for student check out pending the outcomes of the reconsiderations.

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The list includes non-fiction titles like A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Richie Chevat, LGBTQ Rights and the Law by Duchess Harris, and Confronting LGBTQ+ Discrimination by Avery Elizabeth Hurt, and fiction books like Drama by Raina Telgemeier, The Real Riley Mayes by Rachel Elliott, Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart, and Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. 

So Katy ISD students are permitted to browse the 400+ books on the list- but they can’t check them out to take them home.  

As District administrators (who comprise the internal reconsideration committee) work their way through the list of 400+ titles, they are removing titles found to violate EFB Local from elementary and junior high schools, and relocating titles found to "promote gender fluidity" to restricted access "Parent Opt-In" shelves in the high school libraries. As of November 2024, these are the titles currently designated as "Parent Opt-In." It is unknown if the titles listed at the Elementary and Junior High campus levels will remain there, as the current Katy ISD EFB Local prohibits *all* library books that "promote gender fluidity" at elementary and junior high schools. 

Denying students access to books pending reconsideration is a detour from what has been standard practice in Katy ISD. Restricting access to books based on the ideas they allegedly contain- like promotion of “gender fluidity”- is a blatant violation of students’ first amendment rights. This restriction and invisible curtain places a disproportionate burden and obstacle on students who want to check out books that center LGBTQ+ stories, people and themes from their Katy ISD school library. 

Other Invisible Curtains: "Parent & Counselor Resource"

FA(Local) and "Parent Opt-In" are not the only types of restrictions Katy ISD is applying to its public school library catalog. Students are also prohibited from freely accessing 23 (and counting) books placed under a “Parent & Counselor Resource” restriction. The majority of the books behind this invisible curtain focus on LGBTQ+ gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, body autonomy, consent, and human development.

Of note, several of these titles once appeared on Katy ISD's "removed" webpage, but have since disappeared from the public facing page. Now, these titles exist under the invisible "Parent & Counselor Resource" designation. Katy ISD parents have received no communication informing them that these book are available as "Parent & Counselor" resources. 

Restricting access to certain public school library books based on the content, viewpoint or ideas they contain- that some may find objectionable- is a form of censorship. Here are the titles that are being censored by Katy ISD behind the "Parent & Counselor Resource" restriction as of November 2024. It is unclear if the LBGTQ+ titles will be able to remain "Parent & Counselor Resources" for parents of elementary and junior high students, since most of these were placed under this restriction prior to the total ban on books that "promote gender fluidity" for those campus levels. 

Katy ISD is not Unique in Banning LGBTQ+ Library Books

For better, or worse, Texas parents are in this mess together. What's happening in Katy ISD is egregious but it's not unique. Keller ISD banned library books depicting or discussing "gender fluidity" at all campus levels in November 2022. Katy ISD's neighboring district Lamar Consolidated ISD adopted a similar "gender fluidity" book policy in November 2024. And in 2022 the federal Department of Education opened an Office of Civil Rights Complaint investigation into Granbury ISD after the superintendent ordered school librarians to remove LGBTQ+ books from the school libraries.

Take Action: Email the Katy ISD School Board Now!

Post by: Anne Russey

Anne is a Katy ISD mom and co-founder of Texas Freedom to Read Project. Anne has been advocating against book bans and censorship, and for greater educational equity in the public school system in her community since 2021.