The proposed House Bill 2495 by Republican Rep. Jake Hoffman was passed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on July 6 and became effective this past weekend. As a result, pornographic materials can no longer be used in classrooms in public schools in the state.

You would think that this would have been already taking place as it seems like the most common-sense thing in the world to keep out of schools.

However, the bill’s critics claim that banning materials that show s**ually explicit acts censors “LGBTQ+ stories.”

The use of or referral to texts, images, or sounds by children that contain explicit representations of anything s**ual in nature is forbidden by law.

The measure also allows for the exemption of works that have a significant educational value for minors or a significant literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Under the condition that the school first receives parental approval, exempt material may be used and cited.

The majority of the bill’s backers described the initiative as being against the s**ification of adolescents, however Democratic state Rep. Daniel Hernandez disagreed. He claimed that the law will reinstate the so-called “no promo homo” statute, which had been repealed in 2019, and put an end to the promotion of a “homos**ual lifestyle.”

The rule, according to the homos**ual and transgender advocacy group Equality Arizona, reduces “education to nothing more than ‘reading, writing, and arithmetic’.”

One of the group’s members, activist Gaelle Esposito, stated: “We’re very concerned about the impact that this … would have on teachers and students who are trying to access new materials that reflect their perspective.”

He noted further that “It’s unclear what the consequences are for a teacher that violates the statute and what they may face.”

The executive director of Secular AZ, Jeanne Casteen, claimed that the law’s ban on pornography in schools “whitewashes literature.” She continued by outlining what would be missed if they were unable to share novels with pupils that included individuals coming to terms with their s**uality since that is “when the magic really happens.”

If you ask me, it seems like Arizona made the rational decision.