The first hearing on the matter took place last week HB556a bill that would criminally charge Ohio teachers and librarians with the crime of “fostering obscenity” aimed at preventing “the unnecessary exposure of obscene material to children in Ohio classrooms.”
If passed, teachers and librarians who violate the law could be charged with a fifth-degree felony, punishable by a potential sentence of six to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.
HB 556 is sponsored by Rep. Adam Mathews (Lebanon) and currently sits on the Criminal Justice Committee – specifically the Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education, where education policy is typically discussed.
The word “obscenity” is not defined anywhere in the bill, but Rep. Mathews argued that the word is “known to our courts and legal experts.”
“It is intended, as it has already been interpreted, to include only material at the most extreme end of the spectrum: material with a predominant appeal to prurient interests, with a predominant tendency to arouse desire through the display or depiction of sexual activity, or with a predominant tendency to appeal to other extremes interests such as bizarre violence or cruelty,” MP Mathews told the Criminal Justice Committee on December 3.
A similar definition was recently used to suspend an Ohio teacher for having four children’s books containing LGBTQ+ characters in his classroom.
Given this subjective definition of obscenity, Rep. Cecil Thomas (R-Cincinnati) asked Rep. Mathews to provide a single example of teachers succumbing to profanity. Rep. Mathews said the following (his response is unedited here), but did not provide an example:
“We had people from my district and across the state reaching out to us saying, ‘I came in as a substitute teacher and we saw things that were graphically depicting action that students shouldn’t be seeing while sitting on bookshelves.’
“We make sure that any of these types of performances, if needed, are included in the arts, biology and health activities. There are ways to teach grammar without showing graphic depictions of profanity, and we want to make sure that the standard of obscenity that we all adhere to – when we go to the store, when we listen to the radio, when we watch TV – all of those things.
“We have an obscenity standard that all of our prosecutors and judges know how to apply, but it’s still within First Amendment protections that if we make an exception in the educational space, it’s confined only to places where where I really need it, not grammar, English, math, social studies and the like.”
Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Township) wanted to make sure school librarians face criminal charges.
“I have seen books depicting images, stories and narratives directly related to sex that we are beginning to see in classrooms and libraries in our schools,” Rep. Williams said, again without giving specific examples.
Rep. Mathews did not mince his words in his response.
“This bill continues to impact school librarians,” he said. “This is an attack on the K-12 space.”
The bill comes as the Ohio Legislature is in the final weeks of a lame-duck session: the period at the end of the two-year legislative cycle when lawmakers rush to introduce and pass as many bills as possible.
There will also be two committee hearings in the coming week on the Parents’ Bill of Rights, a bill that would force all teachers and school staff to make LGBTQ+ youth available to parents and includes an element limiting mentions of LGBTQ+ identity in school curricula.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights is expected to pass the Republican-majority Senate Education Committee on Wednesday and could be passed by the full Senate later that day. 🔥
START ACTION
- To view Buckeye Flame’s full guide to Ohio’s LGBTQ+ laws, click here.
- You can share your thoughts on HB 556 with members of the Criminal Justice Committee by visiting this page Here.
