New Jersey enacts law making it harder to remove sexually explicit children’s books from public libraries and schools

The Garden State just eliminated protections intended to keep inappropriate content away from children.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed the Freedom to Read Act into law last week, making it harder to remove sexually explicit books marketed to children from public libraries, including school libraries.

The bill passed largely along partisan lines; most Democrats in the state Legislature supported it, while nearly all Republicans opposed it.

“This legislation mandates that books cannot be removed from our libraries solely based on the origin, background or views contained within the text, or because an individual finds it offensive,” Murphy, a Democrat, said at the bill signing ceremony, reported New Jersey news site TAPinto Union.

Republicans, including state Sen. Parker Space, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, and Assemblyman Michael Inganamort, condemned Murphy for making it easier for children to obtain sexually explicit materials.

“The legislation that Gov. Murphy signed today eliminates longstanding protections that have successfully kept sexually explicit and obscene materials out of the hands of minors for generations,” the lawmakers wrote in a joint statement. “Enabling the distribution of obscene material is reprehensible, but absolving accountability for its distribution is heinous and inexcusable.” 

Last year, people tried removing 28 books from the state’s public libraries via 14 book challenges, according to NJ.com. Some of the challenged books include This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson; Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe; and Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. 

All three of those works are graphic novels that feature images of naked people engaging in sexual acts; they also promote transgenderism.  

For example, Let’s Talk About It features a graphic of a couple engaged in anal sex, Gender Queer includes a graphic of two people engaged in oral sex, and This Book is Gay has graphics of people masturbating, among other sexually explicit images. 

Even so, the New Jersey Library Association praised the Democrat for signing the bill into law. 

“Over the past several years, there has been an increase in attempts to restrict the collections that are carefully curated by New Jersey’s libraries,” Brett Bonfield, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement released by Murphy’s office. “We are grateful to Governor Murphy and this legislation’s sponsors in the Senate and Assembly.” 

New Jersey joins Illinois and Minnesota as states that have passed these so-called Freedom to Read laws.