Virginia Lieutenant Governor candidate Ghazala Hashmi (D) sparked controversy after resurfaced comments revealed she doesn’t “really care” about children having access to sexually explicit materials in schools.
Hashmi, currently serving as a state senator, made the remarks during a 2023 Public Education Subcommittee discussion.
The meeting centered on Senate Bill SB1463, legislation designed to protect minors from inappropriate content in educational settings.
The proposed bill would mandate that all public and school libraries throughout Virginia place parental advisory labels on books containing sexually explicit content accessible to minors.
The measure aimed to give parents greater awareness of what materials their children could encounter in school libraries.
During the committee meeting, Hashmi directly addressed the issue of sexually explicit materials.
“We seem to focus on sexual explicit material. I don’t really care about that,” she stated plainly.
State Sen. Amanda Chase (R) raised concerns during the same meeting about a proposal from separate legislation.
Chase discussed requirements for school libraries to label books containing sexual content, which would help parents identify age-appropriate materials for their children.
Representatives from the Virginia School Librarians Association and the Virginia Library Association attended the meeting to voice their opposition.
These organizations defended the discretion of librarians and suggested parents should bear the responsibility for monitoring their children’s reading materials, the Daily Caller highlighted.
Chase pushed back against this position, pointing out practical challenges many families face.
She noted that parents, particularly mothers juggling multiple children, often lack the time to personally review every book their children might access at school.
Content labels would provide a straightforward solution for parents seeking to shield their kids from inappropriate material, according to Chase.
The proposal would remove the burden of exhaustive book reviews while still giving parents control over their children’s reading choices.
Hashmi interrupted Chase’s line of questioning, cutting off further discussion.
“I think we won’t engage in a debate,” she said before thanking the Virginia Library Association and asking if anyone else wished to speak against the proposal.
When no additional speakers came forward, Hashmi offered her own perspective on the matter.
She shifted focus away from sexually explicit content toward other concerns.
“I’ll just say one of my concerns is violence,” Hashmi explained.
“We seem to focus on sexual explicit material. I don’t really care about that; I care about the gratuitous violence that children are exposed to — not necessarily through books, but through all of the other social media. I think that does far greater harm to our children.”
The comments have resurfaced amid an increasingly contentious race for Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor position.
Hashmi’s Republican opponent, John Reid, has made the race a focal point of recent political theater in the state.
Reid staged a mock debate on Tuesday featuring an artificial intelligence-generated stand-in for Hashmi.
He took this unusual step after claiming Hashmi repeatedly refused to debate him face-to-face.
The Hashmi campaign fired back on Tuesday with a television and digital advertising campaign targeting Reid.
The ad accused Reid of planning to close public schools and redirect taxpayer funds to private educational institutions instead, per the Caller.
Reid swiftly responded to the advertisement, labeling it “false” and renewing his accusations that Hashmi continues to avoid debating him.
WATCH:
