The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill last Friday that would remove criminal exemptions for schools, public libraries and museums that distribute “obscene matter” to a minor. This means that if a school librarian gives a student a book about how to masturbate, that librarian can go to jail.
House Bill 4654 passed late last week by a vote of 85-12.
“State Code defines obscene matter as anything an average person believes depicts or describes sexually explicit conduct, nudity, sex or certain bodily functions; or anything a reasonable person would find lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value,” News and Sentinel reported.
One issue that could present itself is that the word “obscene” is sort of down to individual interpretation. Something that may be “obscene” for a 20-year-old Gen Z’er may be different…
