A Texas lawmaker is investigating 850 books on race and gender that could cause ‘discomfort’ to students

The inquiry comes as Texas continues to be at the center of a debate over how race and history are taught in school. After months of legislative efforts to ban critical race theory in classrooms, a state law went into effect last month limiting teachers from discussing certain race-related concepts and controversial current events in their lessons.

In the October 25 letter, obtained by CNN and first reported by the Texas Tribune, Krause directs superintendents to identify the books listed as well as any other books relating to “human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior” or material that “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”

The lawmaker gave school officials until November 12 to reply to his inquiry but did not indicate what the next steps in his inquiry would be.

Krause is one of several Republican candidates challenging Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is seeking reelection in March’s party primary. CNN has reached out to Rep. Krause for comment.

“This is yet another attempt by Republicans to censor the voices of people of color following 10 months of power grabs like advancing anti-voter legislation, discriminatory redistricting maps, and censoring what educators teach in school,” Neave said in a statement.

The state’s legislative Black, Mexican American, LGBT and the women’s health caucuses have condemned the inquiry saying it’s an attack on educators and schools’ freedom to teach.

Inquiry is a ‘quite extensive’ task for schools

Krause’s letter indicates that it was sent to a “selected” group of superintendents in the state but does not detail how many or which ones.

Nearly a dozen school districts, including some of the largest in the state, told CNN on Thursday they received Krause’s letter earlier this week.

Spokespeople for the Katy school district and another district mentioned by Krause confirmed officials received the letter and were reviewing it.

Another district in Keller, a city in Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, received Krause’s inquiry on the same week that school administrators discovered and removed an illustrated book that contained “inappropriate images.” The book, “Gender Queer, A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, is among the hundreds of books listed by Krause.

“Illustrations of this sort should never be available in the school environment. Ensuring our curricular materials are appropriate for students is a priority for Keller ISD. We are changing the process we use to review and approve books and related materials to prevent future incidents,” the district said in a statement shared with CNN.

‘An obvious attack on diversity’

“This is an obvious attack on diversity and an attempt to score political points at the expense of our children’s education,” Moline said. “What will Rep. Krause propose next? Burning books he and a handful of parents find objectionable?”

“Unfortunately, Krause is following a trend of elected officials weaponizing censorship and antagonizing educators and librarians for political gain. It goes without saying that this discriminatory witch hunt should be dropped,” Friedman said in a statement.

“Every child deserves to feel empowered to know who they are and to know their history. So often adults think that children and young folks aren’t ready to do this work or ready to hear about it, but the reality and truth is they’re more than ready because they see the world as it is and so much more clearly,” Jewell said.