'Raw pornography:' Sen. Tomes' Senate Bill 12 draws vocal support, opposition

EVANSVILLE — Certain books in school libraries are under fire from a local Indiana state senator, as well as parents from around Indiana.

Testifying in front of the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee last week, parents called on its members to stop what they referred to as "pornography" in schools. Some offered titles of books they found offensive, whether reading them out loud or passing around lists.

Sen. Jim Tomes, a Republican who represents Posey County and portions of western Vanderburgh County, authored Senate Bill 12 which addresses the dissemination of "harmful material" to minors. In its original form, the bill strips K-12 schools of the "educational" legal defense should a librarian or teacher be charged with the Level 6 felony of giving harmful materials to a minor.

An amended version of the bill has passed first reading in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This is Tomes' third time in three years trying to get the bill passed. Last year, the bill was approved through the Senate 34-15, but according to Tomes, the House said it did not have time to hear it during the session.

Tomes did not speak to the Courier & Press for this article, but his press secretary did provide a statement and he has spoken on the bill publicly multiple times.

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Tomes' reasons for writing the bill

Tomes has continued to state that his bill does not censor or ban books.

"We're trying to prevent (K-12) students from being exposed to books that are absolutely raw pornography," he said to the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 16.

If a school library has these books, put them where kids can't get them, Tomes said. Then, if a parent wants to check them out, they can. Tomes said the bill would simply take away the argument that these materials are "educational" should they be given to students in school.

"This is real," he said. "It's not rampant, it's not everywhere, but it does exist."

The Courier & Press reached out to Tomes' press secretary about which book or books Tomes felt were "pornography" and did not hear back.

But during the hearing before the Judiciary Committee, Tomes' feelings were focused on "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe. The book is a graphic memoir, with illustrations following the author's life as Kobabe navigates sexuality and gender identity.

According to Tomes, "it's something you'd see in an adult bookstore."

"I just want these away from our kids," Tomes said. "I think it would be nice if our kids was exposed to books about math, science, geography, things along those lines."

A Google Search shows "Gender Queer" at the center of many book-banning debates at schools around the country. According to the American Library Association, it was the most challenged/banned book of 2021. Five of the books on its top 10 list were banned for "LGBTQIA+ content."

What the committee heard before voting

After Tomes' introduction, comment from parents, pastors and other concerned citizens testifying in favor of the bill in front of the Judiciary Committee ranged from Ted Bundy to the horror movie "IT" to communism.

Pam Keyser, a parent from Elkhart County, passed around a binder of 12 books she said were found in Indiana high schools that contained inappropriate content.

"In the first 32 pages of this binder you will find pornographic excerpts highlighted in yellow," she told committee members. "These books include rape, sodomy, prostitution and teenage sex. One book has detailed accounts of how to perform various homosexual acts."

Keyser said of the 92 counties in Indiana, only Clint County and Rush County were confirmed to have none of the 12 books. Two counties had no online access to their libraries and five others were password protected.

But of the 83 counties accessible, Keyser said 83 had one or more of the books on the list she provided the senators.

"We need to get pornographic books out of our libraries in Indiana," Keyser said.

Rachel Burke, president of Indiana PTA, had her own list for committee members when she testified against Tomes' bill.

If the bill passes with the word "educational" removed, Burke said these books would be pulled:

• "Ulysses" by James Joyce

• "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

• "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

• "The Sound and the Fury" and "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner

• "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

• "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

• "1984" by George Orwell

• "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

• "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin

• "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

• "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron

• "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

• "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey

• "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

• All the works of Toni Morrison

• The works of Gabriel García Márquez

"They all include sexuality," she said.

Thoughts from other local legislators

SB 12 has come up at both local Meet Your Legislators events held in Evansville. At the latest, Rep. Ryan Hatfield and Sen. Vanetta Becker both gave their thoughts on the bill. No other legislators were present aside from Hatfield, Becker and Tomes.

Becker, the Republican senator for Warrick County and portions of eastern Vanderburgh County, said she would need to look at the bill closer.

But she was hesitant about its passage because parents should be involved in what their children read.

"It really ought to be their decision," she said "Not ours, not the state's."

Becker also said she'd heard books like "Tom Sawyer" would be removed. Members of the crowd reacted to this, most saying "no," that it would not be banned.

"I've heard it from teachers," she said. "Because it has the word n----- in it."

The Courier & Press reached out to Becker via her press secretary for comment on her use of the racial slur and did not hear back before publication.

Becker also said she hadn't seen the books that resulted in Tomes' authoring the bill.

"I would just have to read the bill. I haven't seen it," she said. "So I'll be reviewing it. But my point is I just don't know where it stops."

Hatfield, a Democrat, spoke on the bill as an expansion of government oversight.

"The era of small government in Indiana is over," he said. "Every day we pass more legislation that expands the size and scope of government to a level that Democrats wouldn't have ever dreamed of."

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What the bill looks like moving forward

The version the judiciary committee voted 7-4 to move to second reading was an amended version of Tomes' bill.

While the bill still excludes "educational" from the list of defenses for school libraries, it also adds a procedure for a parent or guardian to submit a complaint regarding a book at school library their child attends and for that school to respond.

Many of the parents who spoke in favor of Tomes' bill said this amendment did nothing for them. They said they have spoken to schools and school boards and nothing changes.

The amendment also stipulated all public schools and charter schools will have to have a list of each book in its library available online and in hard copy if requested.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: 'Raw pornography:' Tomes' bill on books draws vocal support, opposition