A Texas school district that has become notorious for its anti-LGBTQ+ book bans recently removed more than 140 titles from library and classroom shelves in January alone.

The Katy Independent School District pulled 142 LGBTQ+-themed books in the first month of 2026, according to the Houston Chronicle, citing a public records request from the Texas Freedom to Read Project.

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A list of the books appears on a district webpage devoted to instructional resources that have been removed from school libraries and classrooms since 2021, and includes titles like Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, Jazz Jennings’s memoir Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen, and dozens of others spanning fiction and nonfiction books that deal with LGBTQ+ history, civil rights, and teen health.

As the Chronicle notes, many of the books include resource sections listing the web addresses of support organizations, advocacy groups or educational websites. The district cites weblinks in the books to “prohibited materials” as the reason for their removal.

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“Library Materials with links to prohibited content must be removed from campus library and classroom collections to remain in compliance with Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 13,” a note on the district’s webpage says.

Signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in 2023, S.B. 12 bans Texas schools from teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation; developing policies or training about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and considering diversity in hiring decisions. S.B. 13, meanwhile, requires school districts to establish their own acquisition and review policies for library materials. It also includes a blanket ban on titles featuring “indecent content or profane content,” and allows anyone in the district to formally challenge library materials.

According to the Chronicle, neither law requires the removal of books based on URLs included in them. However, per S.B. 13, school boards ultimately have the last word over whether specific titles meet their local criteria for inclusion in library collections.

In Katy ISD’s case, the district said that links to “prohibited content” in books are grounds for their removal in schools under the law.

“Katy ISD is committed to providing safe learning environments for all students,” the district said in a statement, according to the Chronicle. “Internet content across all grade levels is evaluated via third-party adult content filters to ensure compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act and all applicable laws.”

However, the outlet reports that the district has not disclosed the specific web addresses it considers “prohibited,” and has not explained how the books were evaluated. According to the Chronicle, Katy ISD previously blocked access to LGBTQ+ websites like that of The Trevor Project on its networks.

Anne Russey, co-founder of the nonprofit organization which fights against censorship and book bans in the state, described the removals as a “purge” that indicates the district “continues to restrict and remove library books based on the viewpoints, ideas and identities they portray and contain.”

Katy ISD previously made headlines in 2023 when its board of trustees ordered a halt on purchases of new books ahead of the 2023–2024 school year, and for new books that had already been purchased to be placed in storage until the district could develop procedures for evaluating materials’ “sexually explicit” content.

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