“As a result, these materials have slowly crept into our to our schools,” she said.

Erin Friday of Our Duty, an anti-transgender organization, testified in favor of SB 1435, reading lines she considered sexually explicit from books she said are available in middle schools.

“If you don’t vote yes on this bill, you will be on record that you believe that children should be exposed to the type of harmful matter that I just presented,” Friday said. “There can be no other interpretation.”

ACLU California Action, the California Teachers Association, Equality California and other groups opposed the bill. Seth Bramble of the California Teachers Association said it “opens the door to removing books from our schools simply because some individuals don’t like the views in those books.

“This bill is about taking books out of our school libraries,” said Bramble, who testified against the bill. “The proposal seeks to fuel fear and distrust in our public school libraries and in our public education system, disrupting the work that teachers do to try and grow the next generation of inventors.”

Lawmakers expressed concerns about the legal liability the bill would create for districts, as well as the subjective nature of the “harmful material” test.

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, said parents and school district residents already have “the opportunities and systems and structured environments for parents to have this conversation with their school district.”

“This bill proposes to go around that,” Smallwood-Cuevas said.

Committee Chair Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, questioned whether the books Friday discussed are the “exception” and asked whether they justify a new rule.

“I commend you for instigating this conversation today, and for your work prior to it,” Newman said. “I’m going to abstain on the bill, simply because I do believe that there are more problems generated here than the prospective solution.”

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